AN aspiring ice skater has been nominated for a Young Champions award for her dedication and commitment to the sport.
Isabell Balchin, nine, of Whitworth Lane, Wath, began ice skating two years ago.
She was introduced to the sport by her mum Kerry, who used to ice skate as a child. As soon as she hit the rink, she fell in love.
Her dedication has not gone unnoticed and her mum nominated her for an award under the Young Sportsperson category.
Kerry said: “Isabell aspires to become a professional skater. She succeeded in passing her British Ice Skating, (formally NISA) passport levels after a year and has since had private coaching to continue her journey.
“She regularly trains five times a week and wakes up at 5am three times a week to train before school to utilise precious ice, which demonstrates dedication.
“She also attends regularly off-ice training, which teaches skaters the fundamentals of flexibility and jump rotation technique.
“She competed in her first national competition last August and her talent was identified by NISA and she was given a place on NISA young stars development program.”
Isabell is currently working towards achieving her NISA level one and is currently awaiting a date for her level one field moves test.
In addition to this, she is also competing in a competition next month.
Kerry said: “Her goals for this year are to obtain level three field moves and level two free style and elements.
“I wanted to nominate her because as her mum I am proud of her work and dedication to ice skating.
“She never once complains about having to get up so early for school and people don’t realise the work young ice skaters have to put in.”
Louise Palmer-Monks who coaches Isabell said: “Isabell has come such a long way in two years. She is dedicated and she is one of the most confident ice skaters for her age.
“She is more than happy to put the work in and she never misses a class.
“If she goes on holiday and misses a session, as soon as she’s back she’s straight back on the ice rink.
“She did tremendously well during a competition last year which saw her selected for the young stars development programme and she was able to attend the squad camp, which is a fantastic experience.
“She deserves this nomination and I wish her luck with this Young Champions award.”
