GLASGOW has its very own karate kid in the form of a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

Emma Ruthven has been practising the sport since the age of seven and has worked her way to become a Scottish, Welsh and Irish champion in her field.

Over the past year, the teenager has competed all over Europe, travelling as far New York before being selected to represent Scotland at the Junior European Karate Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in February 2017.

Accompanied by her dad Andrew and mum Alice, the family make a 60 mile round trip from their home in Carluke to Kokusai Karate Club in Clydebank six times a week for training.

Emma, the youngest of five siblings, also attends a monthly Scotland Squad session in Ratho, near Edinburgh.

The teenager said: “Our club is amazing, we're like a proper little family, I think that is why Kokusai Karate Kai plays such an important role in my life"

"Training and competing is like an addiction for me, it's my passion.

“Being selected to represent Scotland has always been a huge goal of mine so to be blessed with this opportunity is amazing! I'm so excited to see what the future holds.”

Emma’s dad Andrew explained: “I used to do karate a number of years ago, I didn't compete at a the level she does, but that’s what originally sparked her interest.

“I could tell from the start that she had something special, she stuck out from everybody else in the club.

“We moved clubs about a year ago to train with Billy Haggerty and Bobby Morton and Emma also trains with Stephanie Connell, she’s come on quite a lot.

“Between the three of them she’s in the right place. They’re the top coaches that’s why we moved. It’s her whole life basically.”

In the past 12 months, Emma has competed in the Scottish International Open, British Four Nations, British Open and New York International Open, among others.

Andrew added: “She’s holding her own up there. Everywhere we go she ends up on the podium. I’m so proud of her.

“It's a commitment from us. We have to get her from Carluke to Clydebank but the biggest commitment is from Emma. I don’t mind at all taking her through.

“For the moment, there’s no funding for karate. It was accepted for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo so we’re hoping that will change things.

“All the trips we go to, training and everything, is paid for by us.

“We get a grant from West Dumbarton council - they’re going to give us £150 because she’s part of their talented youth. And South Lanarkshire council have come up with something similar.”

The family are hoping that the inclusion of the karate in the 2020 Olympics will result in more financial backing of the sport, like that experienced by tennis and cycling in recent years.

For now, Andrew is encouraging his daughter to stick in at school.

He explains: “School comes first - she needs an education before anything.

“There are people high up in the sport that make money out of it but there’s nothing there financially to encourage her to pursue it just now. She’s certainly not in it for the money.”

Emma added: "Good things don't come to those who wait, they come to those who work for it"