A Teignmouth teenager has been selected to captain the Great Britain Under-19 team in the underwater hockey world championships in Malaysia this summer.

Now Lily-Mae Pettifer has to fund the £3,000 cost of getting there.

The youngster's been playing underwater hockey since she was 7 and a pupil at Hazeldown Primary School.

"My mum found an advert for a sport called 'octopush' and thought it sounded like my sort of thing.

"In swimming lessons, I had scared my instructors and the lifeguards with my breath hold so underwater hockey sounded like the perfect thing for me. Even back then I knew that it would be an obsession but I had no idea that it would end up taking me all around the country and now the world."

Underwater hockey is a sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal1. The players use hockey sticks or pushers to propel the puck and wear snorkels, masks, and fins to move underwater.

Sadly for Lily-Mae underwater hockey is such a niche sport that no funding exists to support GB athletes. All of the training, equipment, travel and tournament fees have to be met by individuals.

Under water. Lily-Mae says she "loves this crazy sport!" (eyJpdiI6IjRYazhGN3g4TUhhT3NnTmdDUEFuTmc9PSIsInZhbHVlIjoiMmU3alRmYndUM0E4Y0p2NytQM1NZMEF4Tk5GNWVGd1VzQURnMHlmbThabTZjd0FEMGtneExSK3ZXU0xNWkd5QyIsIm1hYyI6IjhiMzdkMWQyNDcwZjEyNzMwNzA4MWQxYWIxOTYyMzQzYjE0NWMyZmZhZGY4Nzg0MzIxMGRkNmNkYjNkODM0ZjgiLCJ0YWciOiIifQ==)

Writing on her GoFundMe page Lily-Mae says: "I love this crazy sport! It is my passion. Being selected to represent Great Britain in the U19 squad in Malaysia this July is my absolute dream and being chosen to be the captain really is the perfect finishing touch.

"I have managed to save just over £1000 through fundraising activities and from saving my earnings from last summer. If you are able to support me in any way with just a few pounds I would be extremely grateful! Every pound helps to get me closer to my dream..."

Lily-Mae's career and training has taken her to France and Germany. And she says the trials that took her to Team GB have lasted over two and half years.

"It has seen me travel to Leeds over 15 times (with over 12 hours of travel for each camp), play in numerous tournaments and train religiously for hours and hours each week both in and out of the water," Lily-Mae wrote.