A TEENAGE girl from Ferndown has been selected to compete for England in an upcoming international martial arts tournament.

Nada Wegrzyn, 16, a student at Avonbourne Academy will represent England at the 2026 European Karate Championships in Limassol, Cyprus next month.

Nada has competed internationally for England in the cadets division before, including in both the World and European Youth Championships.

She said: “I feel quite honoured. Obviously, it’s a big thing to be selected for England and I’ve worked hard for it.”

Her career highlights already include gold in kata at the 2025 Karate1 Youth League in Croatia, medals in Austria, Thailand, and Denmark, and multiple England National Championships titles.

Since beginning the sport at seven-years-old as an after-school club, Nada has continued to develop her skills and is determined to continue climbing the ranks.

She said it had not been “smooth sailing” along her journey to represent England, balancing schoolwork with training, but was pleased with her progress so far.

“My ultimate goal in my karate career is to go to the Olympics,” she said, with eyes on the 2032 games Brisbane, Australia.

Nada is hoping to compete in the next Youth Olympic Games, held in Dakar, Senegal in October and November this year before shifting her focus to her senior career.

Last year, Nada finished ranked fourth in the world cadet rankings, but now she has turned 16, she will be moving to the junior’s division where she is already ranked 19th.

Her father, Michal, said Nada spends around 20 hours a week training, including training runs in the mornings before school. He said was “very excited” when he found his daughter would represent England and that her “hard work and passion” had paid off.

“I loved the whole journey with her,” Michal said.

“She’s got a gift for it, and she’s put in more effort and worked harder.”

The family self-funds Nada’s karate competitions, which requires money for international and travel for accommodation to tournament among other things.

Nada is now raising money so she can continue to compete internationally for England.

“Representing England is an honour I don’t take lightly,” she said.

“I’m passionate about karate, and I’m fully committed to giving everything I have – every training session, every competition, every moment.”