Freestyle footballer wins second world title

Freestyle footballer wins second world title
News Desk

By News Desk


Published: 25/09/2024

A teenager who has won a second freestyle football world championship title says she wants to show young people "anything is possible".

Isabel, 16, from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, started training in 2020 when Covid lockdowns meant she had to stop playing football matches.

Three years later, she became the youngest female freestyle football world champion when she won Super Ball World Open in Prague at the age of 15.

She said it was "amazing" to win the title again this year after competing in Liberec, Czech Republic, in August.

'Super Ball' tests people's technical skills with a football - also known as keepy-uppies.

A panel of judges then mark points based on style, difficulty and execution.

The Wiltshire teenager also holds five football-related Guinness World Records and has a page in the 2025 book dedicated to her.

Isabel, who goes to school in Monkton Combe, Somerset, trains early in the morning and when she returns home in the afternoon.

Her mum Kate said: "We often wake up 05:45 BST when we can hear 'thud, thud, thud' as she is practising in a space we have created in the house."

Kate added: "Isabel has to balance work, studying and freestyle training and she is so committed that that really is her entire life."

Isabel hopes her success will inspire others.

She said: "Women can compete in football and there are other options like freestyle where you can express yourself."

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