HIGH-FLYING students are throwing themselves into a rigorous training programme - after being selected to fly frisbees for their country.

Four teenagers from Northallerton College, North Yorkshire, will make up a quarter of the under-17 Great Britain side when it vies for honours in the European Championships in July and August.

The top spinners were spotted by team scouts and asked to attend national trials in Birmingham, earlier this year. They will take part in the finals in Southampton between July 28 and August 5.

Coach Tom Candlin said: "I'm over the moon. To get one of our students selected would have been good enough, so to have four in the GB side is remarkable.

"They play really well together and deserve to have been chosen."

Team member Jake Aspin, 16, said: "We are all really pleased to have been picked and can't wait for the contest. We are training hard and doing a lot of fitness work. We have played well together for some time and, hopefully, that will show when we play in the championships."

The frisbee championships involve 16-man squads with seven-a-side playing on the pitch at any one time. Players score by receiving the frisbee in an end zone, similar to American football.

In a sporting quirk, the matches are refereed by the players themselves, with additional awards going to the most sporting side. Games last 90 minutes, with the early rounds in pools and the latter stages knockouts.