Alness kickboxing schoolgirl is seven-times world champion at age of 10
A ROSS-SHIRE lass who is a world champion seven times over at the tender age of 10 has returned from competition in Italy with another haul of gold medals round her neck.
At the beginning of October we reported on the plight of Alness girl Elise Stephen who puts in 17-plus hours a week training in kickboxing, taekwon-do and Muai Thai after getting a taste for competition on her eighth birthday.
Always willing to put in the hard graft in training by herself, Elise turned to would-be supporters to help her meet travel costs after being invited to represent her country at a prestigious fixture in Italy.
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That target was reached in just four days and Elise repaid the faith of supporters by winning all of her fights in four categories, Continuous, Points fighting, Low kick and UFR Rules.
The Bridgend Primary pupil came home with four golds for Scotland and has another four world titles to her name, Proud Dad Dale, who works for the Port of Cromarty Firth in Invergordon, said: “As you could imagine, she is delighted!”
He said: “Elise explains Italy as the best time of her life so far, even though we were at the event from 8:30am in the morning till 8:30pm at night. It’s what she loves and being part of the WKA Scotland squad who were very supportive of one another made her feel like part of the team.”
Team Elise are aiming to secure some local sponsorship to help offset some of her anticipated travel costs as she progresses in her goals. Mr Stephen said: “We are hoping that her being a 7-times world champion might help.”
Next up for the determined young fighter is the WKA Scottish Championships at Ravenscraig in Motherwell on Saturday. That is the qualifying event for the Worlds next year.
If she qualifies, she will be part of the Scotland squad next year again and will be invited to squad training in Glasgow.
Anyone who would like to offer support can contact Elise’s family at elisestephen.fighter@gmail.com
