THE daughter of a former York City star has represented Great Britain in a European championships - in handball.

Freya Murty, daughter of Graeme, has chosen not to use her feet like her father but rather her hands, starring for Team GB at the Under-17 European IHF Handball Trophy event in Kosovo, which ran from October 11-15.

At just 16-years-old, Freya featured at left back in the tournament where Team GB narrowly missed out on qualification for the competition's inter-continental phase, losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia.

Due to rival nations receiving greater funding, Team GB have only entered men's and women's handball teams at one Olympic Games - London 2012.

Coming from a sporting background, Freya is following in the sporting footsteps of her dad Graeme, who famously scored for York as they knocked Everton out of the EFL Cup in 1996, before a big money move to Reading.

York Press: Freya Murty plays for Team GB and the North East Manchester Hawks

Talking about the help she gets from her father, Freya said: "Whenever I’m doing analysis and don’t understand something, he is able to help me. Even though he’s not involved in handball, it all sort of crosses over with stuff he does in football.

"If I’ve not got training and want to do something, he’s there to help me or coach me, whether that’s with footwork or passing drills. My passing has also got a lot harder, because I throw it at him and he can take the catches and throw it a lot harder back at me than other people can."

Freya is currently studying for her A-levels at York College, moving down from native Scotland to study PE, law, biology and chemistry.


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Playing the sport since the age of nine, Freya also represents the Scotland national team and club side North East Manchester Hawks, who were national champions in 2022.

She has chosen her A-level options with a career in physiotherapy or sports law in mind but would also like to play handball overseas for a living and said: "I’ve been on trips to Sweden and their professional set-ups are so good.

"They have so many different leagues and the Champions League where they play against all the top teams in other countries.

"They also have specific handball stadiums whereas, in the UK, it’s very much a case of finding an available hall in a leisure centre and making sure it’s the right size and has the right markings."