Marc flies the flag

MARC HOWARD

HANDBALL:

CARRYING the flag of your country at a major competition is a dream to the majority sportsmen and women around the world.

For Marc Howard the dream became reality — at the age of 15.

The teenager, who attends Royton and Crompton School, held aloft the Cross of St George at the Partille Cup in Sweden — one of the most prestigious tournaments on the handball calendar with more than 10,000 competitors in various age groups.

As captain of England under-16s, proud Marc led out his side at the opening ceremony in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The goalkeeper or centre line player was made skipper after impressing for North East Manchester Hawks under-16s — he is the captain — and under-18s, as well as his country.

And Marc is held in such high regard by the England selectors, that he has also plays for the under-19s and is being tipped as a star in the making.

The England side he skippered — which also contained Hawks players Crompton House pupil Tyrell Coley (from Shaw) and Sam Bedlow (from Haslingden) —won three of their six qualiying games to make it into the last 32 of the competition before losing 18-14 to IFK HHammaro of Norway.

And there was double glory for the NEM Hawks club when their girls squad player Ellie Smethurst, from Heywood, captained the England under-16s girls to two wins in their section.

However, there was a tough baptism at under-19s level for Hawks’ older players James Higgins and Stefan Whaley.

They were part of the England under-17s squad in Gothenburg which played in the under-19s European Open.

But they found the size, speed and experience of their national opponents too much to handle and, as widely expected, came away without a victory.