Leeds Knights' Bailey Perre keen to realise his GB ambitions

The 18-year-old defenceman has impressed since moving full-time to West Yorkshire in the summer, building on the invaluable NIHL National experience he gained in a handful of games for hometown club Swindon Wildcats last time out.

Perre is by no means the finished the article and was keen to come to Leeds to continue an education he started under head coach Ryan Aldridge when the two were at the Swindon-based Okanagan Hockey Academy.

Last season, Perre was also named as a reserve for the GB Under-18s team that went out to Estonia and came home with bronze from their World Championships.

Before that, in March 2020, Perre was named as part of a GB Under-16s roster that was to compete in a tournament in Riga.

But, like everything else that year – and not just in the hockey world – the tournament fell victim to the pandemic and never took place, causing heartache for Perre, as well as several other players who are now his team-mates in Leeds, Archie Hazeldine, Carter Hamill and Oliver Endicott.

Those three did make it away with the national programme as part of the 18s team that competed in Tallinn back in April. Along with fellow Knight Tate Shudra, they are also in the main 20s squad for Kaunas next month. Perre would dearly love to join them.

“If I did get the call, I think you’d have to say that the start of the season here with Leeds has really helped set me up,” said Perre, ahead of this weekend’s league games against Raiders and Hull Seahawks.

“It’s a massive ambition of mine to play for GB – at any level – it would mean everything.

“To represent your country in your chosen sport is probably the greatest achievement I could think of.

“And so to have it taken away from me at Under-16s like we did, through no fault of our own, was tough. I’ve been craving to get back into the team to have that opportunity on the international stage.”

As has been the case with all of his young ‘D’, Knights’ head coach Aldridge has been impressed with Perre in adapting to the rigours of second-tier hockey on a day-in, day-out basis and helping propel his team to the top of the standings.

“The first couple of weekends he probably struggled to find his feet,” said Aldridge. “He’s a young kid, away from home and he’s been surrounded by his best friends his whole life. So it’s a different experience for him, but he’s really adapted well to it.

“I brought him up here to have something different. He was looking for experience away from home and it suited both parties.

“You try to take your time with the British players and keep your eye on them for as long as you can.”

Of course, were a call-up for Perre to come in the next couple of weeks – the Division II Group A tournament in Kaunas runs from December 11-17 – it would likely mean bad news for somebody else.

But if that mobile doesn’t ring, Perre is comforted by the fact that he has another crack at making the main squad next year.

“If I don’t get the call-up, I would just train harder, play harder and show the coaches what I can bring to the team in the hope that next season I can make it,” he added.

“Being put back into the system for the 20s – even as a reserve – has really helped my confidence. It sets me up for next season to try and push myself to get into the team if I don’t go next month.”