A COLWYN Bay hockey star enhanced his growing reputation as one of the brightest young talents in the country at a prestigious national tournament.

Jacob Heaton-Rue, a Lower Sixth Form pupil at Rydal Penrhos School, was part of the Welsh U17 side that competed at the Futures Cup, which took place at Oakland College, St Albans.

The young hockey talent from Wales played under the banner of Celtic Jaguars, competing in both the Boys’ and Girls’ events at U15 and U17 level.

The sports scholar performed exceptionally well throughout the competition against some high-quality opposition that featured some of the brightest young talents across the country, and he even managed to get on the scoresheet with a sensational individual effort to open the scoring against Scotland, before the Jaguars eventually fell to a narrow 5-3 loss.

This encouraging performance will give the national side plenty of hope for the upcoming season as the group prepare to make the transition to U18 level, which Jacob hopes to be a significant part of once again.

Jacob has achieved a considerable amount since joining Rydal Penrhos’ sports scholarship programme in 2016 and played a starring role in the school’s U18 and U16 sides in their National Schools’ Championship double earlier this year.

Director of Sport Allen Boyd, said: “Jacob is a highly talented hockey player who has proven time-and-time again that he belongs on the national stage, and it was great to see him performing so well at such a high-profile competition.

"His academic and athletic progress have come on considerably thanks to his dedication to getting the most out of his experience here at Rydal Penrhos, and he has an incredibly bright future if he continues to show the same sort of desire under the support and guidance of our dedicated staff team.”