Netminder Nicole excels on ice

CHADDERTON schoolgirl Nicole Jackson is skating to success as a member of the England under-16s ice hockey team.

Nicole (15), a junior with the Manchester Phoenix club, has had a busy summer of training and will fly out to Canada in October to compete in the HOCKtoberfest Female Hockey Festival against sides from around the world.

She started playing roller hockey at the age of just eight and has made rapid progress on the ice since linking up with Phoenix three years ago.

Nicole is among the bravest of hockey players — a netminder — and attends Beech House School, Rochdale.

The trip to Canada isn’t her only international action of the year as Nicole has also been hand-picked for an event in Finland.

She will join a special camp organised by the International Ice Hockey Federation, receive coaching from top players — and maybe move one step closer to her ambition of playing in the Winter Olympics.