COACHES at a Keighley taekwondo dojo and are very proud of three of its students who joined Team GB at the European Taekwondo Cadet Championships in Malta.

Sam Taylor and William Burleigh, both of Keighley, and Gina Bene-Hamill, of Pudsey, who are all members of Horizon Taekwondo in Keighley, took part in the Under-15s category.

And although all three lost in the matches, Rick Simpson, coach at Horizon, said all three are best in Great Britain in their weight class.

"We've had a very interesting year," said Rick. "We have a unique crop of talented athletes.

"We had four students representing Great Britain at the World Championships and now we've had three athletes representing Great Britain at the European Championships.

"Team GB can only take 20 athletes - 10 girls and 10 boys and only one per weight class. And we had youngsters taking three of those 20 spots. They all qualified through a national team selection.

Natalie Simpson-Kidd, another coach at Horizon Taekwondo,said: "I've been coaching these kids since they were four-years-old.

"The way they've developed in the sport and as young people has been absolutely phenomenal. I'm extremely proud of them.

"There are a lot of positives that they can take away from these championships.

Natalie, who is also national team coach, said: "It's been a great honour to coach these kids for 10 years.

"This was their first time at the European Championships. They also qualified for the World Championships earlier this year.

"They has to qualify for these championships by winning two consecutive gold medals in competitions at domestic level.

"After taking part at the World Championships in the summer, they then had to qualify for Team GB by winning gold at the National Championships at Sheffield in September followed by another win at a selection event.

"They've all been on the competition scene for a long time. They put a lot of hard work into their training.

"Homework is always a priority but then after they finish that they can come training.

"We have targets for them and the goal was to get into the the GB team.

"It's absolutely outstanding that they've made it.

"We also couldn't have done this without the support of their parents."

Rick said that Horizon Taekwondo has approximately 400 members who range in age from two to older adults.

"There is no age limit. We have members in our club in their 70s who train twice a week."

They also have para-taekwondo members and one instructor who is registered blind.