Leeds Knights call up teenage forward Edgars Vengis to face Solway Sharks
TEENAGE forward Edgars Vengis’s elevation to Leeds Knights in NIHL National is proof of the player pathway the club is striving to provide for youngsters, says Davey Lawrence.
The 16-year-old Latvian-born centre has been called into the Knights’ first-team for Sunday night’s NIHL National home clash against Solway Sharks. He makes the step up after just three appearances for the Leeds Knights 2 team in NIHL One North.
The youngster, from Grimsby, joined the Leeds Junior Knights back in 2021 and has progressed through from Under-14s to Under-18s, as well as representing GB and England at Under-16 level.
For the past few months he has come under the watchful eye of Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge in training, as well as Lawrence, who oversees the Knights 2 team.
He is the first Junior Knights player to break through to the NIHL National team.
“He’s come a long way,” said Lawrence. “He only turned 16 two Thursdays ago, so he’s only played last weekend with us and this weekend but he’s been practising with us most of the year and he’s done quite a bit with the Knights as well.
“He plays the game the right way, he plays the right areas and he is a very responsible player.
“To get him exposed to this level this quick is good for him, it’s good for us, good for the club and it’s good for the other lads too, because they can kind of see that pathway is not a myth, it is there and if you work hard enough and you want to put the legs in you can do it.”
Aldridge added: “He deserves it. He’s a big lad for his age, skates well and does all the little things right - he's very much a team-first guy and somebody who has got a big future in Leeds, hopefully.”
He will come into a Knights team reeling from a 2-1 defeat at Berkshire Bees on Saturday night.
Mac Howlett’s 20th-minute opener was cancelled out by third period goals from the hosts’ Dominik Gabaj and Stuart Mogg.
It was the Knights’ second defeat of the 2024-25 campaign but – going into Sunday’s round of games – they remain joint-top of the standings with Milton Keynes and Romford Raiders.