Rising freestyle-football star dispossesses her idol of clipper trick record
It’s safe to say that 16-year-old Isabel Wilkins (UK) knows a thing or two about football. The sport has been an integral part of her life for as long as she can remember.
After being crowned the youngest freestyle-football world champion in 2023 aged just 15 (more on that later), GWR was excited to visit her as she sought to add some further record titles to her already-impressive resumé.
Isabel’s passion for soccer emerged not long after she could walk – initially just for fun with a casual kickabout at the beach or firing shots at a miniature goal in her garden.
However as she progressed through school, her hobby became more serious. She would play competitively – as a midfielder – for several local clubs at town and regional level in her home county of Wiltshire.
She’s also an avid fan of 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 fixtures.
It was only during the COVID lockdowns in 2020, when group training and matches were suspended for the foreseeable future, that freestyle football piqued her interest. Starting out by honing her “keepie-uppies and some basic tricks” in the backyard, at that point Isabel didn’t even realize this was a competitive sport in its own right, but she was soon to be enlightened.
While traditional soccer is all about scoring goals, executing clean passes and working as a squad, its freestyle cousin places the emphasis far more on the individual. The sport centres around the manipulation of a ball, using various parts of the body to perform a range of mind-boggling tricks that demand a combination of manoeuvrability, precision, stamina and creative flair.
Quickly, Isabel came to see that not only did she have an aptitude for freestyle but that it could open up opportunities she might never have dreamed of with conventional soccer. This is when the notion of making a life-changing transfer began to take hold.
“It was a hard decision to make, but in the end I knew I wanted to focus on freestyle,” Isabel told GWR. “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.”
Proof that she had made a sound decision came in December 2022 when she triumphed at the World Freestyle Football Association Youth Championship. To allow for wider access globally, this contest is live-streamed from the competitors’ homes and judged remotely.
With this big win under her belt and confidence in her abilities growing, Isabel began to train for the WFFA’s Super Ball World Open, taking place in Prague, Czechia, the following year.
Open to all age groups and staged over several days in front of huge crowds, the Super Ball would prove to be another game-changing moment for Isabel.
It would see her go head-to-head in “battles” with some of the game’s biggest names – athletes that she herself had long followed and admired. This was epitomized in the semi-finals when she faced – and defeated – then-five-time world champion Aguśka Mnich from Poland, who is more than 10 years her senior.
The unflappable teen kept her nerve to the end, seeing off all the competition to take the No.1 spot, defeating Caitlyn Schrepfer in the final. On receiving her winner’s trophy on 8 August, she officially became the youngest freestyle-football world champion of all time, aged just 15 years 344 days.
@thewffa @isabel wilkins winner of Superball!!!! #futbolfreestyle#AllYouNeedIsABall#FreestyleSoccer#freestylefootball♬ original sound - The WFFA
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.”
The youngest male to win a freestyle-football world title – Norway’s Erlend Fagerli (b. 19 June 1997) – was 19 years 62 days old when he secured his first top-tier victory in 2016, so Isabel is several years ahead on that front, so that bodes well…
Though he announced his retirement in late 2023, Erlend followed up his debut win with nine further victories, meaning he currently boasts the most world titles of any freestyler.
Secondly, the magnitude of Isabel’s victory at Super Ball has since been thrown into even sharper relief by the fact that the competitor she overcame in the semi-final round claimed her sixth global championship three months later. This means that Aguśka now jointly holds the female record for the most freestyle-football world titles, alongside Mélody Donchet (France).
Although it’s been nearly half a year since her unprecedented victory at Super Ball, Isabel admits she “still hasn’t really come to terms with it yet”.
“It’s crazy to think that I’ve only been freestyling for about three 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.”
On a freezing day in January 2024, the freestyle-football ace demonstrated why she is one of the most formidable talents in this sport right now by decisively setting four records:
- Most Abbas around-the-world tricks in 30 seconds: 18
- Most half-beck around-the-world tricks in one minute: 12
- Most hop-the-world tricks in 30 seconds: 47
- Most clipper tricks in one minute: 46
While the first three titles were new categories for GWR, meaning Isabel has now set the bar for others to beat, the last one was particularly poignant as she claimed it from one of her idols.
Seven years earlier, in January 2017, freestyler Laura Biondo (Venezuela) – a multi-GWR title holder and long-time ambassador for the sport – completed 33 clipper tricks in a minute in California, USA.
Biondo has also set a number of other records, including the most football touches with the feet on a treadmill in one minute (female) in 2020, with 170; though this has since been surpassed by Mohadeseh Goudasiaei (Iran) on 13 March 2023 with a total of 178.
During her against-the-clock attempt, Isabel notched up an additional 13 clippers (a trick that essentially involves flicking up and “catching” the ball on the inner foot) to net herself the title.
“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.”
As satisfying as it might be to claim a record from a hero, Isabel was keen to point out the camaraderie that exists among freestylers. “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.”
Looking ahead, Isabel’s next mission is to qualify for the upcoming World Freestyle Football Championship due to take place in December 2024, where she would be seeking to pick up another trophy.
Having already achieved so much in her relatively fledgling freestyle career – and let’s not forget she is still only 16 years old! – it’s hard to see anyone or anything coming between this football phenom and her goals.
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