THREE young kickboxing students of the Isle of Wight’s Team Conflict Muay Thai club have been selected to represent Team GB in the WFMC World Championships later in the year.

Andy Harvey, who runs the Ryde-based club, travelled to Birmingham with the students — Daisy Farmer, Noel Davies and Lacey Masterton-Davis — to see them compete in the recent Team GB trials event.

All three got through the selection process with flying colours — judged on how they have put their training into action with their skill set, footwork, technique, sparring ability and cardio capability.

They will now take part in the world championships in Macedonia in October, with success in the competition a more than credible pathway towards a possible 2020 Olympics place.

However, the hard work in competition starts next month with the WFMC British Championships — a return to Birmingham for Daisy, Noel and Lacey, plus up to three other adult students.

Lacey, aged ten, is a pupil at Dover Park School, Ryde, and has been training at Conflict Muay Thai for the past two-and-a-half years.

Daisy, 15, a student at Christ the King College, Newport, has been training at the club for three years, while nine-year-old Noel, a pupil at The Bay CE Primary School in Sandown, has been training with Conflict Muay Thai for six months.

During their trial, Wayne Edwards, the WFMC World Fight Sports and Martial Arts Council official who judged them, said Team Conflict were amazing with some brilliant skill and very strong fighters.

Harvey, who established the Island’s only Muay Thai club eight years ago, said: “I’m so proud of the team and thankful for all the support from the Island.

“With 12 years’ experience behind me I have single-handedly grown the sport on the Island.

“I now have a team of 40 children and 25 adults — and the numbers are constantly growing.

“I also teach the sport in schools as a means of tackling bullying and obesity and in helping to build confidence through the learning of a new skill.

“I am one of very few who have brought Muay Thai to schools in the UK and I hope others follow this amazing sport, which as endless benefits.

“By the end of this year, I hope to have made British and world champions out of my students.”

If anyone is interested in joining Team Conflict Muay Thai, contact Andy on 07581-326428 or by email to: conflictmuaythai@outlook.com