AFTER spending his birthday raising funds for his kickboxing club, a 16-year-old is looking forward to jetting off for an international competition.

Back in June, Max Emeny took on a birthday skydive where he raised £650 to support his fellow Combat Academy pupils to attend an international tournament in Vienna, Austria.

On top of the skydive, the Barugh Green club organised a sponsored spar and parents from the Kicking For Change group helped fund the youngsters’ trip.

Now, the teenager is preparing to fly his team for the ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) World Kickboxing Competition, which starts on October 24.

Max’s mum, Stephanie Rowett, told the Chronicle: “He’s feeling good, he’s really looking forward to it.

“There’s just a big training camp he’s got to focus on leading up to it.

“In terms of the competition, any medal would be great, but the gold is obviously the goal - it would help to raise the standards of the team.

“But Max is autistic so he he just focuses on whatever is in front of him at the time - I don’t think he’ll really feel the pressure till we get there.

“Right now it’s all about training and focusing on his diet.”