16-year-old Verwood resident Joseph Sanyal is flying to Sweden to represent Great Britain with his Poole Phoenix Handball teammate Joe Trent in Handball.

The pair have recently made the selection for the under 18 squad and will compete in the European Open this July. Both are in sixth form currently studying for their A-Levels.

Joseph, aged 16, is from Verwood and at Wimborne’s Queen Elizabeth School. He first tried handball when he was 14 at Poole Phoenix and was selected to play for Dorset.

Joe is 17 and from Corfe Mullen is at Corfe Hills School.

They will be facing Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland and Luxembourg allowing them to experience the game on a whole new level.

As the Handball Program currently receives little funding from national schemes, the squad is crowdfunding and would be incredibly grateful to any person or business willing to help via this page.