The 22/23 season has ended and we have registered for the 23/24 season, the club has settled in with England Boxing our governing body but it’s been quite a challenging season. Starting off with 19 carded boxers the club went out to compete at every opportunity although experiencing some difficulties we were not used to encountering or deemed as fair-play. The squad have had to adjust having to ‘fight’ more-so than ‘box’ to gain a win or be in the points. Matching boxers has also been a challenge which we have been very credible in seeking fair bouts. Our boxing skills and ring-craft has been highly effective, our standard of skills have given us the edge but when encountering fighting and work-rate we have had to use our defence skills and evasiveness over traditional boxing. This resulted in more losses including controversial decisions from our past 12 seasons, where-by our win ratio was 80% in the 21/22 season it’s down to 65%. The club have supported every show even turning up with just 12-hours notice to ensure club shows had entertaining bouts for their supporters or helped after opponents pulled out. We always say ‘We look good losing’ our skills are always recognised and praised where-ever we box.
Some results have not been exactly favourable and sadly a few prospect boxers have quit the sport due to this which is disheartening but we stand firm on our standard of skills, fitness and coaching. Our young athletes are highly disciplined, we set a benchmark for conduct and persona. Through our expectations and training we prepare young people for the ring and for life which makes them employable and credible.
The club strives to provide and empower more than just boxing, our juniors complete first aid courses and attend a defibrillator and re-suss course, we also support their education and provide references for employment, military or further-education etc.
We are a ‘Rock’ and we continue to be a stronghold for development and progress in many areas. Boxers may come and go but each one moves on with embedded skills and abilities, they are better characters and we are proud of our guidance and support.
England Boxing have supported us to promote and encourage more females into boxing and to develop a strong female squad, although numbers are low our females are making great progress and have ambitions to reach higher goals. The club have actively encouraged female assistants to join the club to be supported and provide relevant training and courses to become coaches, judges and referees. This is still our mission.
The club has been a sanctuary for many people through our ‘Bully Buster Programme’ along with our ‘Mates’ well-being open gym. We have re-started our kids box-fun sessions and these are starting to boom again. Our open gym sessions on Wednesday evenings are providing a great resource for those who want to keep fit and train in a fully equipped boxing gym with full support and encouragement.
Finally, we have supported several charities and helped raise funds despite our own financial difficulties struggling to find money to make repairs, improvements and provide the resources across the board. We do not attempt to encourage or poach boxers from others clubs or make false promises of glory to gain numbers to increase profit or to line pockets. We believe in our community and actively make a difference to society, this makes us admirable because it’s ‘People first-Profit last’!
