“We may all be different fish, but in this school we swim together.” Unknown author.

In this day and age when we can do almost anything with the touch of a button on a phone, it is often easy to forget the barriers that remain firmly in place for so many members of our society. Lots of sports and activities that plenty of us enjoy without batting an eyelid, remain out of reach or difficult to access for others in our community.

Tralee Boxing Club has always been highly supportive of diversity and inclusion in our sport and club culture, and in recent years has raised the bar again by commititting itself to actively pursue inclusion for all groups and to remove the barriers that prevent people from participating in boxing.

Last week saw the conclusion of a very successful second round of the LEAD Women programme at the club, which involved a 6 week, free introductory boxing course for females only. The popular class was booked out within days of being advertised indicating that there are still large numbers of women and girls in our community that would love to participate in the sport for its numerous health and well-being benefits.

TBC was delighted to host this dedicated, hard working crew of newcomers, who quickly learned the ropes and got stuck into the training routine without complaint. We would like to thank all the boxers who took part, for their effort, respect, commitment and sense of fun throughout. We welcome you to our club and boxing community and hope you all continue on your boxing journey feeling much more empowered.

Following directly on from the success of the LEAD programme, Tralee Boxing Club continues its drive towards inclusion, and introduced the first round of the High Five Boxing Academy last Friday.

High Five Academy is a 4 week  programme of boxing training for children with additional needs. Supported by IABA, Sport Ireland and CARA, the programme will provide a fun, non-contact fitness based introduction to boxing for children aged 10-17.  There is something for everyone in this programme whether the aim is to meet new friends, get some exercise, gain confidence, or simply to practice some new skills.

TBC would like to thank all the High Five parents for coming on board with tons of useful advice and assistance and of course the boxers for their bravery and enthusiasm in taking on this new challenge. We wish you all the best of luck over the coming weeks and hope you have lots of fun.

For further information on the High Five Academy, please contact TBC on our Facebook page, Tralee Boxing Club 22, or the IABA website.   http://iaba.ie/club-zone/inclusion-boxing-in-iaba/

Finally Tralee Boxing Club would like to congratulate all the new Kerry County Boxing Champions of 2023. For many of the county’s boxers, the willpower they had to maintain over Christmas while the rest of us indulged, finally paid off as they fought their way to the title of County Champ last weekend at Sliabh Luachra Boxing Club in Castleisland.

The standard of boxing was noticeably higher this year than over the past few years, pointing to some great work put in by the Kerry Development Squad. Hopefully this trend will continue at Munster Championships, leading to a good yield for Kerry’s young boxers, including our own Adrianna Araiza who will represent Kerry this year.

Tralee Boxing Club was superbly represented at the championships by a handful of boxers this year, Oisin, Joe, Adrianna and Cody. We thank you all for your hard work and bravery and for being such a source of pride for our club. Well done to all boxers, congratulations to Oisin and Adrianna, and best of luck everyone in your upcoming matches.

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