Spotlight: LLS Sixth Form Student Sophie Skates to the Top
Already an Elite Ice Hockey Player, LLS Sixth Form student Sophie-Rose Davies has her sights set on the 2030 Olympics
Sophie’s been ice-skating nearly as long as she’s been walking. After watching her older sister’s figure-skating sessions, she began to skate when she was 3 years old.
Her early years were spent with the Deeside Dragons. But, by 9 years old she was invited to trial with Manchester Storm Academy, where she played until she was 14.
She made history in that same year.
“I think when I was 9 actually, I made the England Under-13s team,” she says. “So I was the youngest to ever play for England.”
At 14, Sophie returned to Deeside, where her reputation continued to rise. In that time, Sophie continued playing for Team GB. Having just aged out of the Under 16s, she’ll now be competing with the Under 19s, leaving her in contention to play for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
This season, Sophie has joined the Solihull Vixens.
A powerhouse in the Women’s National Ice Hockey League (WNIHL) Elite Division. The Vixens recently secured their fourth Elite League title in five seasons, placing Sophie in one of the strongest women’s programmes in the country.
Alongside this, she also competes in boys’ U19 hockey, where full contact is part of every game.
“Girls’ hockey is contact,” she explains. “There are just certain rules—like you can’t hit on open ice. But it’s all contact.”
Laughing as she described it, Sophie told me:
“Two weeks ago I was in a game and we were playing our rivals, and I thought ‘I’ll block it.’ It hit me in the face, missed my helmet, gave me a concussion and cut my head open. I had a nice black eye in the half term.”
It’s part of the game, Sophie was saying. “I just love the adrenaline from it, when you do something well, everyone’s all buzzing. Even if you’ve had an awful game, you still enjoy it.”
I asked Sophie about her future off the ice. “The goal is to go to America on scholarship,” she says. “I wanted to be a coach, but I also wanted to go and be a physio or a personal trainer.”
She decided to join LLS because our sixth form sports course grades students on coursework and work experience rather than exams. This meant she could play hockey 4 or 5 times a week and “If I miss something it’s not a problem, because I can always go back and do the coursework, because I don’t have to sit an exam.”
With her drive and talent, Sophie is carving out a path that could take her from sixth form straight to the Olympics. In January she’ll be on the ice again for Team GB in the Ice Hockey World Championships, all while completing the LLS sixth form sports course. She’s a rising star in the world of ice hockey. Having already played in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia, where she’ll go in the next is anyone’s guess.
