It’s 4.30am on a Monday morning and Sara Paterson has arrived at Aberdeen’s Linx Ice Arena, keys in hand ready to open up the ice to her 16 eager skaters.

The rink below the hockey clock, glossy and untouched, soon becomes a mess of blades as the time ticks over to 5am.

Racing onto the ice to begin practice, Team Zariba are conscious they have just seven weeks of precious ice time and want to make every second count, even if it means a 4am wake up call.

Zariba are the UK’s top synchronised skating team. They have had their best season to date, travelling across the country to gather enough points to achieve their dream of representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Championships in Hungary this April.

It’s a sport that has risen rapidly in popularity over the past few years, with Zariba's senior team moving up the ranks since its inception in 2007 to become the first Scottish squad to represent the UK on the World stage.

Lifting the national title for a second time in January and the Scottish title for the fourth year in a row a month later, the girls were ecstatic to discover they had accumulated the points needed to represent Team GB in Budapest.

Sara says: “They were just delighted. Some lost for words. Others it was a dream they had literally worked their whole skating career for.”

It's an achievement made all the more impressive considering they have spent the last few years training with just 90 minutes of ice time each week.

With ice hockey matches and three other sports clubs vying for slots at the local rink, the team have no choice but to make up extra training time away from the ice at an indoor football club, working for two hours each week on choreography, expressions and movements in trainers.

A lack of funds has also meant the team has had to turn down invitations to compete across the country.

Sara says: "We were told last year that we simply didn't compete enough and that was possibly why we got beat so bad.”

To boost their scores this season, the team chose not to buy new outfits so they could afford to compete at London’s Lee Valley in November.

It was a decision that paid off; they won the competition, bolstering their best ever result for a season.

Now their entire week is literally an eat/sleep/skate programme of personal training sessions, extended off-ice practice, early skating sessions and one rest day a week on Sundays.

“It’s crazy hard, but that's how real athletes train and it's what we aspire to but have just never had the support, funds or ice,” Sara explains.

“I already worked seven days so I'm just adding to an already packed schedule. The girls mostly all have full-time jobs or studies on top of a packed training schedule, but it's a small price to pay.”

Following qualification, Sport Aberdeen offered to cover the costs of extra ice time, amounting to six hours each week, with Aberdeen Combat and Fitness Centre sponsoring the girls by putting them through their paces with three weekly classes to improve their strength and stamina.

But while the team was offered training support in the run up to the competition, they still had to find the £11,500 needed to travel to Hungary.

A crowdfunding page was quickly set up, while committee members and parents contacted businesses and grant funds to gather as much money as possible to ensure the girls weren't left out of pocket - or worse, couldn’t afford to go.

“The cost was scary,” Sara says. “The last thing you want to do is qualify and not be able to afford to go. Even somewhere as close as Budapest can be extortionate when you calculate it for 20 people.”

Lucy McDonald, who has skated with the team since its inception, adds: "All of us so badly want to go to worlds, it’s been such a massive long-term ambition for all of us.”

But the local community rallied, with friends, family and fellow skaters donating anything from £10 to £50, and local businesses sending in cheques.

A major grant from Aberdeen Active Partnership of £7500 helped push the team over their target, meaning they could focus solely on training for the competition.

But just as Zariba were celebrating their biggest achievement to date, they received a shock when Cardiff rivals Team Spirit lodged an appeal with national skating body NISA, arguing that they should represent Great Britain instead.

“To be honest it was all quite a sad affair,” Sara explains. “We worked hard for that selection and got it fair and square. To appeal on an official selection process is not a good move in my eyes but they obviously thought it was worth a try.

“I just teach my teams to be respectful to other athletes and graceful in defeat. Sometimes things don't go your way, we know that better than most, but reputation is everything and I pride myself on a good one.”

With just days to go until the team fly to Budapest, Sara is reflective on the challenges the team have faced over the last nine years to achieve the ultimate goal of representing their country at the Worlds.

“It's amazing that we have come this far on what we have but that's the determination of the squad right there.

"As a coach getting to the Worlds is something very few do, so it's an honour I can take my 16 favourite people with me"