THIS talented 12-year-old schoolgirl from York has her sights set on one day playing basketball for Great Britain.

Fulford School girl Ava Patchesa was the only girl to be selected to play for the Yorkshire U13 girls basketball team from York both in a recent game against Scotland and in a regional tournament in Lilleshall in Shropshire and was among the youngest girls there.

At five foot four inches, Ava is tall for her age and proud mum, Becky, a qualified personal trainer, said: "She's always been really sporty and when she was little she liked gymnastics, but she was just too tall and that's where basketball came in.

"Her dream is to one day play basketball for Great Britain. The cost for her to play in these prestigious games was £140, and we have struggled to get any funding to help her pay for this."

To help cover costs Ava came up with the idea of making and selling cakes at school and she raised the rest of the £140 through a basketball shoot out competition at Fulford School, she also received donations from York Tornadoes ladies basketball team, who she trains with.

Becky said that she and football coach husband Ben, who live with Ava and their nine-year-old son, Finn in Wheldrake, will also be donating £30 to Street Games, a charity that helps children in disadvantaged areas to access sport and healthy lifestyles.

Becky said: "Ava is passionate about girls basketball and it is our dream to create an U14 girls team in York that can compete at National League level eventually and to feed into a strong North Yorkshire squad and possibly a winning Yorkshire team."