Last year Crosskeys Campus sports student Jay Sheppard, who competed with her local club Storm Kickboxing Academy, beat five competitors from five different countries to win silver and bronze medals at the WKA Championships in Punta Umbra, Spain.

900 competitors from 30 countries competed at the event. Jay, 16 from Ebbw Vale said: "I'd never been to Spain to compete before so it was a great experience and fantastic to win the medals."

Jay hopes to win a place in this year's WKA Championships which will be held in Scotland. She said: "At the moment I'm training three to four times a week doing running pad work and sparring, so hopefully I'll be well prepared for the 2010 WKA Championship qualifiers later this month."

Crosskeys Campus sports tutor Mererid Dark said: "We wish Jay every success in her forthcoming competitions."