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Can you imagine becoming SO good at your favourite sport that you break a record set by your personal HERO?!
Well, Isabel did it. 🥹
A 16-year-old from the UK named Isabel Wilkins has been playing and loving football for as long as she can remember.
In 2023, she was crowned the youngest freestyle-football world champion aged just 15! So, we decided to visit her and see if she would break some more records with her mind-blowing skills. 😎
Isabel started playing football not long after she could walk – in the picture below you can see her firing shots at a miniature goal in her garden:
As she grew older, she became more serious about her passion. She would play competitively – as a midfielder – for several local clubs at town and even at regional level!
Isabel also loves watching the beautiful game, supporting Manchester City when it comes to Premier League action and, of course, both the men's and women's England teams at global matches.
But when did she specialize in freestyle football? 🤔
During the COVID lockdowns in 2020, when group training and matches were suspended for a long time, she got more and more into the art of freestyle.
When she started out by honing her “keepie-uppies and some basic tricks” in the backyard, Isabel didn’t even realize this was a competitive sport in its own right, but she was soon to find out…
🔎 What is freestyle football?
While traditional soccer is all about scoring goals and working as a team, freestyle is much more about the individual and their ability to manipulate a ball, using various parts of the body to perform a range of amazing tricks that require you to be quick on your feet, precise and... creative!
When Isabel realized that not only was she talented at it, but that freestyle could also lead her to more amazing opportunities, she had to make a change...
“It was a hard decision to make, but in the end I knew I wanted to focus on freestyle,” Isabel told us. “People were a bit sad to see me stop [team] football, but they knew that I was at a really good level with freestyle, so they were supportive of me choosing that.”
After winning a few important competitions, Isabel began to train for the WFFA’s Super Ball world championship, taking place in Prague, Czechia, the following year. ⚽
This competition is open to ALL age groups. Isabel was so good that, in the semi-finals, she faced – and defeated – 5-time world champion Aguśka Mnich, who is over 10 years older than her! 🤯
She then kept going until the end, taking the No.1 spot. That's how she officially became the youngest freestyle-football world champion of all time, aged just 15 years 344 days.
Co-founder of the WFFA, Dan Wood, told us: “Isabel is an incredible talent and a hugely respected member of the global freestyle-football community.
“To have accomplished so much already at such a young age is both an inspiration for young girls everywhere and also fills us with excitement as to what she will go on to achieve in the future.”
Would you consider freestyle football as a hobby?
And for anyone who says football is a men's sport, we've got news for you...
The youngest male to win a freestyle-football world title – Norway’s Erlend Fagerli (b. 19 June 1997) – was 19 years 62 days old, so Isabel is quite a few years ahead on that front…
About winning at the Super Ball, Isabel commented: “It’s crazy to think that I’ve only been freestyling for about 3 years and that I’m now a world champion.
“People might think that that shows the level isn’t that high, but I’ve had to work really hard to get here. I’m really happy with my progress, and hopefully I can keep going this way.”
We believe that you can achieve pretty much anything if you work really hard for it! ❤️
So, on a freezing day in January 2024, Isabel showed us why she is one of the top talents in this sport right now by setting 4 more records:
The last record she broke was particularly important as she claimed it from one of her idols...
Let us explain: 7 years earlier, in January 2017, freestyler Laura Biondo from Venezuela – a serial record breaker and long-time ambassador for the sport – completed 33 clipper tricks in a minute in California, USA. This year, Isabel completed 46 clipper tricks in a minute!
“It was really interesting taking on Laura Biondo’s record, because she’s a big role model in the female freestyle scene – someone that everyone looks up to,” Isabel said. “So it was an amazing feeling when I managed to beat that record.”
Who is your biggest idol?
And, while it may be satisfying to claim a record from a legend you’ve long looked up to, Isabel wanted to highlight how freestylers should all help each other become better at the sport that brings them together.
“The community is so supportive of everyone. I have some freestyle friends [that] will help me with different tricks, whether they think the new tricks are good, and give [me] a lot of advice in a really supportive way.”
So what is Isabel's next mission?
She wants to qualify for the upcoming World Freestyle Football Championship due to take place in December 2024, where she hopes to pick up another world title.
Good luck, Isabel, and welcome to the Guinness World Records family! 🥳