MINETY rhythmic gymnast Eirlys Jones has been selected for the Great Britain Espoir squad.

The nine-year-old, who is a pupil at Minety Primary School, performed well enough at trials held during the summer to join a 16-strong squad of gymnasts, having competed against rivals up to three years older.

It marks a fine year for the youngster, who only took up the sport two years ago, but now trains over 20 hours a week.

She started the year with selection to the Welsh Rhythmic Development Squad and currently joins her teammates once a month to train in Cardiff.

During the year, she went on to pick up a number of titles including Scottish Open U9 champion, North East Open U9 champion and finished third in the Welsh Elite U10 competition.

The pinnacle of the competitive season came in July where she picked up all three U9 titles at the British Championships at the Liverpool Echo Arena.

Eirlys trains under the guidance of head coach Deb Hows at Esprit Gymnastics in Swindon, the same club that has produced British champions and Commonwealth Games athletes Laura Halford and Stephani Sherlock.

She will travel to the national training centre at Lilleshall for three days of intensive training.