Onwards and upwards for Ballykelly boxers

The Sentinel reported on the opening of the new cross-community boxing club in Ballykelly around a year ago, with their first ever training session taking place in Loughview House beside where the old army houses used to be.

At the time, the club had little in the way of facilities, but have evidently made up for that with hard work and perseverance. Now, new recruits to the club can make use of various punchbags, a ring, a speed-ball and other boxing equipment.

Rob Monteith, Club Secretary for Ballykelly Boxers, told the Sentinel about some of the accomplishments and challenges in their first year. He said: “To be honest it has been hard enough to get sponsorship or funding. We have got the essentials – skipping ropes etcetera.

“We had a quiz on October to bring in some money and drum up some interest. We are talking about putting on our own boxing event, again, to raise a bit more money and to raise our profile.

“If we are bringing in a bit more money and publicity then we will hopefully be able to attract more and more new members to the club.

“Now, we have a refurbished ring, we have put the speed-ball in and the numbers will hopefully start to increase a bit. We have a wide age-range. We have the young kids and everything up to around people in their 40s.

“Since we opened, overall, the club has been going fairly well but it has been difficult at times. I think trying to hold on to our members is the main thing. We have gained some great new guys since the opening, but at the same time we have had very promising young boxers who have given it up.

“The main thing for us now really is trying to hang on to the guys that show up and have a bit of interest in boxing. Once we get affiliated, I think we will be able to hang on to some of the more promising guys.

“It is all well and good coming along and training, but I think a lot of the younger guys especially want to get into the ring and compete. Once we get affiliated, that is going to happen for those lads. They want to have something to set their sights on.

“Saying that, though, there are a lot of people who want to come down and train but don’t necessarily want to actually go into the competitions.

“The main thing about Ballykelly Boxers is that it is open to absolutely everyone. Whether you are young or old, Protestant or Catholic, you will be very welcome in our club.”

That was a point Mr Monteith was keen to stress when the Sentinel first reported on the new boxing club’s opening last year.

Then, he said: “He said:“The club is open to everyone. We want the youngsters in – they are the ones who are

going to be making a difference in years to come, but that is not to say that we don’t want to have the adults in as well. It is open to everybody.

“It is very much going to be a cross community club. The last thing we would want people to be

saying is that it is only for one side of the community. 100 per cent cross community and everyone is going to be made to feel welcome – particularly with it being in the location that it is, the ex-army

houses. it is excellent being inhere and able to have the opportunity to bring both sides together.”

Asked if that was still the case, Mr Montieth replied: “Absolutely.”