Great Britain Under-18 Women’s head coach Michelle Smith says she is excited to see how the GB youngsters will fare at next week’s World Championship (Division 1 Qualification) in Austria.
The tournament, which takes place from 7th to 11th January 2016, is split into two groups of four.
GB will be based in Radenthein and will take on Italy, Poland and Australia in Group B.
Hosts Austria, along with China, Kazakhstan and Romania, make up Group A.
Each group winner will play in the gold-medal game on the final day of the tournament to win the right for promotion to Division 1.
Michelle Smith said: “We have an exciting young team and the coaching staff are looking forward to seeing what they can do.
“We have had excellent preparations with training camps, on and off the ice, along with the international tournament at Ice Sheffield back in November.
“I think we have a good squad but they will be tested each game by some quality nations.
“We need to play without fear and give everything out on the ice.
“It is a different type of World Championship tournament to normal with the two groups, but it looks an exciting format and the whole squad can’t wait to get going.”