Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray fighters’ Olympic dream is alive and kicking

Dylan Banfield, who trains at Kaizen Kickboxing, has been selected for the British squad.
Dylan Banfield, who trains at Kaizen Kickboxing, has been selected for the British squad.

Two Moray teenagers are preparing to fight their way to fulfilling their dream of competing in the Olympics.

Dylan Banfield and Adele Williamson, who both train at Elgin’s Kaizen Kickboxing gym, are two of only three Scots to be named in the British squad for next month’s European Championships.

The youngsters will now be out to make their mark against the best fighters on the continent in the intense heat of Macedonia.

Yesterday, Dylan, a fifth-year student at Lossiemouth High School, was hard at work pounding the bags while proudly wearing his Great Britain uniform.

The teenager works on his flexibility to ensure he can swing a foot at head-height in an attempt to knock his opponent down.

The effort is on top of a gruelling 11-hour a week training regime while adhering to a strict diet of vegetables, fish and chicken.

However, the Lossiemouth kickboxer, who took up the sport when he was just six, believes the workouts are worth it to have a shot at representing his country at the Olympics.

He said: “I stepped up a weight this year, it was the right time for me just because I’m still growing.

“I get a big buzz from it. There’s a real sense of achievement when you accomplish something.

“Sometimes the training is hard, but it’s worth it in the end.

“It would be good to fight in the Olympics in the future. It would be good for the sport to get the recognition too.”

Kickboxing is currently going through the processes in order to be classified as an Olympic sport.

Dylan and Adele, who attends Elgin Academy, won their places in the squad despite intense competition from other WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organisation) fighters across the country.

The duo regularly travel across the country in the search for elite fighters their own age to spar against.

Dylan’s mum Debbie Parker-Banfield said: “We took him in when he was six to work on his confidence. I think they saw potential in him and it’s went from there.

“It takes a lot of commitment. We head down to London once a month just for sparring sessions. There’s nobody at their level and age up here.”