TEENAGE boys are preparing to give their rivals some stick in the finale of a national sporting competition.

Thirsk School and Sixth-Form College’s under-16s boys hockey team are set to take on the country's best at a finals of the National Indoor Hockey Championship, to be staged at independent Whitgift School, in London, on Friday and Saturday (January 15 and 16).

After a clean sweep at the northern finals, the boys will represent the school as North Champions.

The boys, all of whom also play for Thirsk Hockey Club outside of school, were unbeaten in the regional finals before Christmas, and are confident that they will do well in the national finals.

The team has been backed by numerous local businesses, including transport firm John Smith and Sons, Thirsk Rotary Club and Hall Engineering.

The victories are the latest in a string of success in the sport for the school, which has close ties with the town's hockey club, where pupils receive expert coaching.

The school's under-15s boys hockey team became Yorkshire Schools Champions in March last year, while five months earlier three pupils - Luke Brownlee, Marianne Morrice and Harry Goodall - were picked to play for the North of England hockey team.