International selection honours have come to three young bowlers from the Beccles Indoor Bowls Club.

The players have been selected for the England U25 teams (Ladies and Men) to represent England in Scotland in the New Year.

The three players, Ian Catchpole and sister Louise together with Kirsty Clarke will play in Dunfermline and Arbroath against Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the Mens and Ladies Home International Series.

Louise, 19, made her England debut in Wales, at this level, earlier in the year when she represented England in the same competition.

Her performance in these games was singled out by the England selectors and special mention was made of her ability to play at this level.

Kirsty, 17, made her England debut in the U18 mixed team last year, on the back of her performances in this and a superb trial for the U25 team she has been selected to move up a level to the Ladies’ U25 team.

Both players made a huge impression on the England selectors when last year playing together as a pair they reached the National semi-final of the Ladies’ Unbadged Pairs, in doing so knocking out some favoured pairings for the title.

Individually, they both won Suffolk County Ladies’ Indoor titles in April of this year.

Ian, 22, having made his England debut for the outdoor team in Northern Ireland in September of this year, has now followed this up earlier in November with an impressive indoor trial match, this was followed by selection to the National Indoor Team.

This year has been outstanding for this young player, at any level this will take some matching.

Ian, firstly retained his Suffolk County U25 outdoor singles title in July.

He then went on to skip and win the National Outdoor Triples title with Mark Todd and his father John at Worthing in August.

This was then followed by his England outdoor debut in September and now his selection for the indoor team.

The selection of the three players for the England teams is a magnificent achievement for the individuals and also for the Beccles Club.

Club chairman John Catchpole says; “This is outstanding, for a club the size of Beccles to have three international players is a massive achievement.

“This truly places Beccles at the forefront – hopefully this will encourage the England selectors to take a closer look at one or two of our other players.

“The three players involved have shown great potential from an early age, this is just reward for their dedication to the game.

“For them individually this is a magnificent personal achievement, all three are capable of now taking this on and making a mark on the national and international game.”

All three players have come through the junior ranks at the Beccles Club.

Any young people, aged eight and upwards wishing to take up the sport and follow in the footsteps of these three players are welcome to attend the junior sessions at the club situated in the Sports Complex at Common Lane, Beccles on Saturday mornings from 9 to 10.30 am.