Manchester Phoenix Under-16 star Tom Hammond has achieved his dream - a place at a Canadian college where he can pursue his education and play ice hockey.

August 25th is the date Tom can't wait to arrive quickly enough as that's when he leaves to take up his place at Harrington College in Quebec, roughly halfway between Montreal and the provincial capital, Quebec City.

At Harrington, Tom will combine his academic studies with extensive off-ice fitness and training time and up to three hours of ice time, five days a week, being trained not only by the schools own coaching staff, but by former NHL players too. And with the college team playing anywhere between 40 and 60 games during its season, Tom is understandably excited.

"It's like a dream come true," beamed Rochdale born Tom. "To get the chance to study and play hockey in Canada is brilliant. I can't thank my Dad, Mum Julie, Nipper and everyone else who have helped me get this chance enough - I won't let them down. This is my dream and I'll be giving it 110% percent every day.

Tom first became interested in ice hockey watching the Phoenix in their first year and began playing at the Blackburn rink before joining the Phoenix Junior system at the start of the 2006-07 season. Under the guidance of Paul 'Nipper' Bayliss, his game improved during that summer training even before attending a hockey school run by NHL club, the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida, from that of an average winger to that of a promising and dominant centreman.

That first season with the Phoenix was a good one for Tom as he gained selection to the Northern Conference and the EIHA School of Excellence, and continued to excel in roller hockey too representing Great Britain internationally at a tournament staged in Detroit Michigan.

Last season, Tom was made captain of the Phoenix Under-16A team and finished as both top goal and point's scorer for the team. He also played up regularly with the Phoenix Under-18 team, who won their division with an unbeaten record.

Dad Neil Hammond was keen to try and help his son gain a place at a Canadian school and explained the process saying, "We made some enquiries and eventually chose to apply to Harrington College. They sent an application form that was 14 pages long in which we had to detail his academic level, medical history and hockey history. This needed reports from three of his current schoolteachers, a report form Nipper, as his current hockey coach, and then we were expecting him to have to fly over to partake in trials. Whatever the teachers and in particular Nipper said in their reports must have done the trick, because the next thing we knew, Tom received the offer of a place without the need to trial - we were all over the moon."

But it wasn't all plain sailing as the projected cost of the schooling, flights, accommodation, new equipment and a myriad of other considerations began to mount and Neil admitted, "I had to do some serious sums on the costs that were becoming involved. I really wanted this to happen for Tom, but you have to be realistic. Then we got a 'phone call from Harrington to ask what the delay in accepting was and they understood the situation we were facing immediately. They assured me that Tom was the type of young man they were keen to attract into their programme and within a week, they came back to say they'd secured him an athletic scholarship and the headache over the costs was dramatically eased. Tom will now reside at the college for the first year, well ten months actually, and that is fantastic of the people at Harrington to have done this for him before they've not even met him yet, never mind seen him play."

Harrington College of Canada has students / players from around the world who are provided with the right balance of Academics and Athletics. "We do not look for the best players or the best students for our programme, we look for the best individuals," explained Dan D'Astoli, Harrington Executive Vice President. "We have a professional staff of coaches, instructors, sport psychologist, therapists, nutritionists and teachers who spend ten months a year training these individuals five days a week on the ice and in the classroom. This is why we get results."

Harrington College of Canada is proving year after year that they have the right formula for hockey players to get to the next level. Harrington President and founder John Keightley added, "Last season, we managed to promote six players to the next level at Junior Major, NCAA and professional ranks, this year we have eight of our players invited to attend Junior Major tryouts while a few of our boys will be competing in NCAA. It's always nice to see dreams come true and were glad that we can offer the right balance of hockey and academics to help players from around the world achieve their dreams."

Everyone connected with the Manchester Phoenix is delighted for Tom Hammond and we all wish him the very best of luck and every success at Harrington College.