Dancing shoes swapped for boxing gloves

For almost a decade, Sarah Little has pirouetted her way through life as a ballerina.
Now she's put on a pair of boxing gloves.
Her best friend and hip hop funkster, Lyndal Spencer, has joined her and the pair have spent the past four months undertaking intense boxing training with the Western Bay's own Oceania gold medallist, Kelly Woolrich.
The chattery Tauranga Girls' College pair only do the male-dominated sport for fitness - and don't ever intend on fighting. But they have grown bite-sized biceps and gotten considerably stronger since tackling the sport.
Woolrich said their background in dancing had proved an advantage in terms of movement around the ring. "They are really good on their feet, especially Sarah," she told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Sarah, 14, donned her first pair of ballet slippers at age five, still practises twice a week and is "a couple of years away" from being able to teach.
Lyndal is a member of the Tauranga Girls' College hip hop dance group, who are competing at the National Championships to the sounds of Missy Elliott this week in Hamilton.
Woolrich confessed she initially worried the dancers "would be a little bit pansy".
"But they have got so much better than I anticipated. They have come on in leaps and bounds."
The teenagers got into boxing through Sarah's Dad - who trains at Welcome Bay's Te Kanapu Meke Meke o Tauranga Club.
"I was going to do kickboxing and Dad said something to Hemi (club trainer) about it. Hemi said kickboxing was way more dangerous and that boxing was more controlled," she explained at a million miles an hour.
It was initially just Sarah who was going to box but after a series of complicated twists and turns and changes of events, it transpired that best mate Lyndal would also join the ranks.
The pair received mixed reactions from family members and friends about their new sport.
"At first I didn't even tell my Nana, but I accidentally let it slip the other day," Sarah giggled, and added there was "no way" her mum would let her fight competitively.
Meanwhile, Lyndal's brother and sister are already keen kickboxers, so none of her family batted an eyelid at boxing.
"My mum had it in her head that boxing was rougher, but if you think about it ... with kickboxing you have to look out for arms and legs too," she laughed.
Aside from improving fitness, encouraging six-packs out of hiding, and magicking up biceps - boxing has done wonders for the girls' confidence.
They now plan to "muck in with the boys" on Thursday nights at club training - much to Woolrich's delight.