FOUR former members of the Farnham Fireballs youth floorball hockey team, now playing for Southern Vipers and Southern Venom, have been selected for the Great Britain under-19 team to compete in the World Cup qualifers in Italy later this month.

Russia, originally due to host the matches, have pulled out and the Italian Floorball Federation has agreed to host the matches near Milan.

However, the consequence is a near doubling of costs, with flights and accommodation at peak prices in late August.

Ex-Fireballs Archie Goodman, Harry Floyd, Alex Smith and Tom Jeffrey won’t have any time for holiday activities, with matches scheduled against Germany, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands and Italy. There will be tough training routines and one gruelling match per day.

There are no business sponsors of the trip so far, although Farnham Town Council has made a donation. To help finance the trip, a crowd-funding page has been set up to encourage businesses and the public to make donations.

The page is on the GoFundMe page and all donations will go directly towards the players’ costs.

Even if they fail to qualify, it will be a great experience for the players who leave on Tuesday, August 28.