Markinch trampolinist Joe Yates is priming himself for international competition after being selected to compete for Great Britain for the first time.

The 17-year-old, a member of Tiggers Trampoline Club in Newport, is understandably delighted to be part of the British Youth (under 19) team to take on Germany in the event to be held in Frankfurt from 24-26th September this year.

"I'm ecstatic and I can't believe an opportunity like this has come along," said Yates, who has also been picked as a reserve for the World Age Group Championships later this year.

"I was aiming to get in the GB team but I didn't think I would do it this early in my career, so it's quite a shock that I've been selected."

Yates is only the second Scottish male trampolinist to make it into a GB team. The first to do so is his coach, Keir Stewart, who achieved the feat and reached the World Championships in 2003 before a serious leg injury took its toll on his career.

Stewart, who on top of a full-time job is working his way through the coaching levels and is on track to qualify as a High Performance Coach, has developed Yates's talents for the past two years.

His current routine is a dizzy-making combination of multiple back and Front somersaults and twists. He is working on mastering a routine which will include ten double somersaults many of which with multiple twists before eventually progressing to learning triple somersaults.

Yates was just ten when he started the sport. "I went to school with the sister of the World (Age Group Synchronized Trampoline) Champion, Caitlin Thompson," he remembers. "One day she came into school with all her medals and I went to see her trampolining. She was absolutely amazing and I knew then I wanted to get into this."

Until then he had been to recreational gymnastics but made the switch to trampolining, a sport he describes as "almost like flying." Flyers was the gymnastics club which first developed his talents. He has since moved to Tiggers where he works three times a week with Stewart.

Stewart describes Yates in glowing terms as "a very naturally gifted trampolinist, with the perfect attributes of strength and power."

Yates has equal praise for his coach: "Kier is amazing and he has brought me all the way - I would be nothing if it wasn't for him."

Having been nominated by the sport’s governing body, Scottish Gymnastics, Yates has been supported for a year by sportscotland's regional institute network, through the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport.

The institute focuses on preparing Scotland's best athletes to perform on the world stage by providing high performance expertise.

Its Strength & Conditioning coaches, Gil Stevenson and Sean Tough, coordinate Yates’ physical conditioning programme. Its Performance Lifestyle advisor, Mary McClung, helped him secure a place at Adam Smith College. With Stewart she will help him manage the demands of college and training over the coming weeks.

"The institute has set up a specific, tailored strength and conditioning package for Joe," said Stewart.

"He has grown a lot in the last year so it helps to be able to condition specifically muscles that he was having issues with. He has had a lot of help from the institute physiotherapist, improving his flexibility.

“The support has been fantastic.”