REBEKAH Airey will be attending a camp for budding elite sports stars at the start of 2013.

The 16-year-old former Culcheth High School pupil is a rising star on the netball scene and will have the opportunity to learn from an Olympic gold medallist on the Youth Sport Trust’s National Talent Camp at Loughborough University.

Airey, recently qualified on the British Colleges netball team and is in the selection process for the Great Britain under 17s squad, will be among 90 other aspiring young athletes being put through their paces and learning what it takes to become an Olympic and Paralympic champion.

The four-day event, starting today, Thursday, offers England’s most talented 13 to 18-year-olds insight in the harsh reality of the demands and commitment required to be the best in their chosen sport.

Awaiting Airey are 6am starts, two intense training sessions per day and a series of challenging workshops led by leading sports psychologists and athlete mentors.

The youngsters will hear from guest speakers including England RFU coaches Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree, sports psychologist Robbie Anderson and mountaineer Bonita Norris, the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

And Youth Sport Trust ambassador Darren Campbell, the Athens 2004 sprint gold medallist, will share his experiences of his journey and the pressures of being an elite sport performer.

Campbell said: “Like me, many of these athletes will face some hard challenges and some will doubt their ability to achieve their dream.

“However, if they are committed, work hard and realise the sacrifices they will have to make in order to perform at the highest level, they will be on the right road to sporting success.”

Cheshire player Airey, a student at Wigan and Leigh College, is a member of the Tameside team who were under 16s national runners up this year.

She also plays for Manchester Thunder’s junior squad, who won the Netball Talent League last year.

Airey hopes to make the final 12 of the Great Britain under 17s squad who will be competing in the European Championships in Malta in March.