This represents an increase from the squad of 10 it sent to last year's Winter EYOF in Vuokatti.

The multi-sport event in the Italian resort is set to begin on Saturday (January 21) and conclude on January 28.

It is open to athletes aged 14 to 18, with Britain opting to send a team with competitors aged between 15 and 17 to compete in nine of the sports on the programme.

The country is set to be best represented in Alpine skiing, with Olivia Howeson, Charlotte Holmes, Molly Butler, George Black, Jack Irving and Luca Carrick-Smith all selected.

Three freestyle snowboarders in Charlie Lane, Teiva Hamaini and Amber Fennell have been chosen, along with Samuel Carpenter in Alpine snowboard and Mackenzie Patrick in snowboard cross.

Quentin Wedderburn, Bailey Webster and Jake Dade are Britain's sole representatives in biathlon, freestyle skiing and ski cross respectively.

Figure skaters Arabella Sear-Watkins and Arin Yorke and short track speed skaters Willem Murray and Joseph Armstrong complete the British team.

Cross-country skiing, curling, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and ski mountaineering are also on the programme.

Team GB's Chef de Mission Pete Ambrose underlined the importance of the Winter EYOF for Britain's young athletes.

"It is a huge honour to be the Chef de Mission and lead Team GB in Friuli Venezia Giulia," he said.

"It will be the first time many of our young athletes experience the Olympic Movement and is an invaluable opportunity for them to develop in an international competition of this level.

"While it may be many of the athletes’ first exposure to a multi-sport event environment, Team GB has a great history of youth athletes taking part in an EYOF and going on to become senior Olympians and medallists, so it will be great to help them use it as a foundation for future Games.

"It is a really exciting time to be a part of British winter sport."

Britain's women's curling Olympic gold medallist Eve Muirhead, who retired from the sport last year, has been named as the country's athlete ambassador the Winter EYOF.

She welcomed the opportunity to share her experience.

"I am very proud to be named the athlete ambassador for the Friuli Venezia Giulia Winter European Youth Olympic Festival," Muirhead said.

"I have always been very passionate about sport and to have the chance to hopefully inspire and pass on knowledge to the next generation is something that I am really looking forward to."

Italy held the inaugural edition of the Winter EYOF in Aosta in 1993, and Friuli Venezia Giulia 2023 is its 16th edition.

Competition is due to be staged in Austria and Slovenia, as well as northern Italy, with more than 2,000 athletes from 40 countries expected to take part.