A YOUNG tennis champion from Beith has been chosen to train with the GB squad.

Carla Ward, who plays at Strathgryffe Tennis Club in Johnstone, will go to the training camp in Warwickshire on June 18.

The training academy is for the top 16 girls in the UK and nine-year-old Carla is the only girl in Scotland to be selected.

Carla’s grandmother, Kathleen Ward, told the Herald: “She’s really, really good – and I’m not saying that just because she’s my granddaughter! She wins every tournament she plays, beating girls and boys even older than her.

“I’m really proud about her going to the training school because she’s the only one from Scotland to be picked.”

Carla recently moved to Linwood with her parents Jim and Julie and her little sister Jazmine. But she still has strong roots in Beith, with her extended family and members of the community continuing to offer her their support.

Kathleen said: “Everyone in Beith knows her and quite a lot of people here have been to see her.

“Carla has had a tennis racket in her hand since she was two-years-old and she’s been all over the country. Her dad Jim was a tennis player and played for Scotland when he was 15.

“The coaching is expensive but luckily my niece Margaret Jackson, who owns the Marbill buses here, helps with the money towards it.”

Family friend Sheila Shaw from Beith said: “I’ve seen Carla play and she’s absolutely marvellous. She’s come on leaps and bounds this year. For a kid of that age, she’s fantastic.”