Kickboxer's fight for funding to represent GB

A kickboxer who is about to represent her country at the sport's world championships has said her father has to work long hours to fund her dreams.

Freya Holmes, from Sheffield, is preparing to compete for GB in the 19-40 age category at the event in Abu Dhabi.

The 19-year-old does not receive funding and has struggled to attract private sponsorship, which she believes is because of her gender.

She has spoken about her struggle to convince potential backers that women's kickboxing is as important as men's.

Referring to her approaches to businesses, she said: "We wrote to a few sponsorship places but quite a lot of them have come back saying they didn't want to promote a girl fighting.

"I was disappointed as I thought we had come such a long way, especially as a lot of girls are better than boys at some sports.

"Just because it is a fighting sport doesn't mean it is male-dominated. Girls can be just as good and get to as a high a standard as men, so why can't girls get the same amount of funding? I think it's criminal."

Kickboxing is not an Olympic sport, so competitors are not eligible for the state funding that Team GB athletes in other disciplines have access to.

Miss Holmes added: "I don't receive any funding, my parents pay all the costs. My dad has to work more to fund me to go to different places, it's all self-funded."

She started the sport at the age of nine and won her first gold medal a year later. She said she was nervous competing for the senior GB team but won all three of the qualifying categories.

"The stereotype is you should be big and strong but there are some fighters who are 5' 2'' (1.5m) and they are still brilliant. It's all about where you carry your muscle, I'm not big and well-built but I promise you, I can hit off.

"Being a 19-year-old girl, my weight tends to flutter up and down but if I need to lose a kilo to make my weight category, it's about going to the gym, eating the right foods and constantly training.

"I am nervous about the world championships but I'll have all the preparation and extra strength and conditioning sessions to make sure I'm not going to get tired in between rounds and I'm going to give it my all."

Miss Holmes switched to kickboxing from ballet after her brother began taking classes and wants to encourage other girls and women to take up the sport.

"Kickboxing can be aggressive and it's seen as a male sport but don't allow that to stop you from chasing your dreams.

"If somebody had said to me: 'you are a girl, you should be doing something else', then I would not be where I am today and I would not be the person I am today. It really has helped shape my life for the better.

"Hopefully kickboxing will make its way into the Olympics and I could become an Olympian. I teach young girls and hope to make them the fighters that they can be in a few years' time. You can achieve your dreams if it is something you really want to commit to."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.