Medical experts have warned that a 13-year-old girl who is preparing to slug it out at the Australian boxing championships could be risking serious injury.
WA schoolgirl Haylee Verrier discovered her passion for the sport while training for swimming but quickly ditched the goggles for the gloves.
Due to a lack of a suitable match-up, she has been forced to spar with teenage boys and women more than twice her age as she trains for the tournament held in Canberra on December 3.
Although the Year 8 student from Wandi, south of Perth wears protective headgear in the ring, medical experts have expressed concerns over her health.
"The longer you are in the sport, the more you can be exposed to blows to the head," Australian Medical Association president Gary Geelhoed told the West Australian.
"It appears to be an accumulative thing so you would think a person starting boxing seriously at a young age would be at more risk."
Local trainers identified Haylee as a natural talent and her mother has thrown her support behind her.
"At first I thought, 'Oh my God', and told her I would buy her the best bathers to get her to go back to swimming," Jackie Verrier said.
"But she wouldn't have a bar of it. It was pretty scary watching her at first."
Fifty-seven kilogram Haylee admitted that going toe-to-toe with members of the opposite sex and more experienced women was "daunting" but "a great experience".
She has expressed a desire to compete at the Olympics and will be eligible for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.
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