AN ATHLETIC school pupil is a step closer to becoming a ballgirl after she aced the regional trials.

Emma Hancock, who is a pupil at St Joseph’s Catholic College, is through to the final round of the selection process to help out at this year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The 14-year-old was one of three youngsters chosen out of more than 100 contenders at the Barclays Ball Kids regional trials at David Lloyd Bristol Westbury Club last Sunday Emma, of Rodbourne, said: “I think it would be a really exciting experience to be a Barclays Ball Kid. I do lots of different sports and I am quite active and healthy.

“My local tennis club had flyers about the trials and I have also done it for the last two years so I signed up immediately.

“I would be ecstatic if I got through to the final squad of 30 – it would be amazing to be in that sort of environment and to meet all the players.”

Showing impressive athleticism, agility, endurance, co-ordination, ball skills, balance, speed and teamwork, the Barclays Ball Kids Talent ID Team selected her to be put through to the final.

She is through to the final 100 kids in the UK to be picked for the final selection trial in London on April 28 where she will be hoping to be picked for the final 30.

Head trainer of the Barclays Ball Kids Talent ID Team, Mark Magrath, has also been involved with the selection and training of the Wimbledon Champion-ships Ball Boys and Girls.

“We had a fantastic array of talent in Bristol this weekend,” he said.

“A lot of kids turned up, it was a great trial, very competitive with a lot of strong athletes. It was really nice to see kids that play a variety of different sports to a high standard, as well as a lot of tennis players, and it made our job really difficult when selecting the kids for the National Selection Trials in April.”

The national search is part of Barclays’ on-going sponsorship of the event and aims to find children aged between 12-16 to join the world’s top eight tennis players at the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London in November.