A Bury College student from Ukraine who moved from her war-torn country last year is now playing for Team GB's handball under-17 team.

Yulianna Rodak, 16, left her homeland for the UK last March, a month after Russia invaded, and has quickly settled into life in the borough.

She has excelled in her education and is now playing handball, said to be an increasingly popular sport in Britain, at national level. 

Yulianna started playing the sport towards the end of her primary school years, and her passion and talent for the game has fluorished.

She has already experienced handball success in her country too.

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Yulianna said: “Representing the under-17 Team GB side was an amazing honour, as was winning a national championship back in Ukraine.”

The youngster is currently studying on the college's level 2 sport course and said how her tutors have helped her develop knowledge that will benefit her future prospects.

She added: “My general knowledge around sports has improved so much, this will help me to get into the nutrition or sport science industries.”

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Yulianna’s tutor at the college, Lauren Glossop, is full of praise for her.

She said: “Yulianna is an exceptional student and athlete of whom we enjoy having part of our sports department.

“She consistently shows resilience and determination in her work and attitude since she has been on the course with us.

“She is really invested in developing her skills and knowledge to help support her handball career, which was temporarily paused due to fleeing Ukraine."

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Ms Glossop added: “She is regularly playing and coaching- when Yulianna has completed her work tasks, I have often seen her researching handball training and skill techniques, just showing how dedicated she is to sport both in education and her competitive setting.

“We value Yulianna as a sports student and developing athlete, we look forward to being able to support and celebrate her future success.”

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