Ben Holme

Dear Members,

With the rise in Covid cases over the festive period and the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, Boxing Scotland are keen to safeguard the health of both our staff and elite boxers by limiting footfall within the High Performance Centre in Glasgow.

With this in mind, members who wish to drop off/pick up registration books to the Head Office must do this by appointment only.

Appointments can be made via the enquiries@boxingscotland.org e-mail address.

Members should also complete a lateral flow test before arrival and, where possible, remain outside of the High Performance Centre for any drop-off.

If an individual needs to physically go inside of the High Performance Centre then a face mask must be worn at all times.

Any individual who arrives at the High Performance Centre without a pre-arranged appointment will not be seen.

Thank you for your assistance and keep safe.

Regards,

Boxing Scotland

THREE Scottish boxers have been offered a place on GB Boxing’s World Class Programme (WCP) as full-time funded athletes following successful assessments.

Light-welterweight Reese Lynch, who made history by becoming Scotland’s first ever senior medalist at the AIBA World Championships in November, is among the new boxers.

Middleweight Sam Hickey was also successful with his final assessment, with the two boxers joining Flyweight Aqeel Ahmed, who was already part of the programme.

Bantamweight Matty McHale has also been offered a place on the GB squad, although he does not intend to take up the offer at this time.

Rob Roy boxer Reese Lynch, who claimed three wins at the World Championships en-route to a Bronze medal in Belgrade, was thrilled with the news.

The 20-year-old said: “Winning my medal at the Worlds was such a brilliant feeling and a moment I’ll always be proud of but to now also join GB Boxing, I’m delighted.

“Being able to train full-time will allow me to keep improving ahead of what is a very big year in terms of major boxing competitions and hopefully I can win some medals for both myself and my country along the way.”

Meanwhile Lochee Boxing Club’s Sam Hickey, who competed over five consecutive days in the 2021 Belgrade Winners competition overcoming world class opposition to claim Silver, was also delighted to join the set-up.

The Scottish boxers will train Monday to Thursday each week in the GB Boxing gym at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

“I’m buzzing to be here,” said Hickey.

“I know that now I’m part of this incredible set-up I have everything I need to give me the best possible chance of making all my ambitions come true.”

Boxing Scotland Performance Director and Joint National Coach Craig McEvoy was extremely proud of the boxer’s achievements, and revealed there could yet be another addition, with Bravehearts Welterweight Tyler Jolly set for an assessment next month.

McEvoy said: “We are delighted that after subsequent assessments at the end of 2021 that Reese Lynch and Sam Hickey have joined Aqeel Ahmed on the GB World Class Programme.

“Reese effectively secured his place by winning Scotland’s first ever senior elite medal at the World Championships in November.

“Next month we also have Tyler Jolly attending his final assessment and if successful that will be four Scottish boxers on the programme, which is the most ever, with five places offered in total including Matty McHale.

“The boxers still remain Boxing Scotland EBG boxers, and will train both down south with the World Class programme squad and also with Scotland’s Elite Boxer Group.”

Dear Members,

We are delighted to share our ‘Best of 2021’ Newsletter.

This shares some of the best news and stories that have occurred across the country over the past 12 months.

This was e-mailed to key club contacts yesterday.

If anyone has not received it, please find a PDF version below;

Newsletter – Best of 2021

If anyone would like to be added to our mailing list to receive the monthly newsletter automatically each month, please e-mail communications@boxingscotland.org

Regards,

Boxing Scotland

Dear Members,

Following the announcement from the First Minister earlier today, we wanted to give you an update on the upcoming Boxing Scotland Novice Championships.

At present, we still intend to hold the Championships at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell as scheduled next month.

Restrictions on indoor events and venues remain in place until at least January 24^th, when the Scottish Government hope to be able to lift these.

With this update expected to be confirmed next Tuesday (18^th January) we have, however, made the decision to extend the closing date for entries to the Novice Championships to until 5pm on Wednesday 19^th January.

At present we still intend for the Championships to include all age categories, including over-18’s, restrictions allowing.

We are aware there have been restrictions for this age group in terms of sparring indoors over the festive period, which has not been ideal for preparations, although outdoor contact for this age group is now allowed with immediate effect. Version 24 allows for Adult out door Contact.

BSL-COVID-19-OVERVIEW-GUIDANCE-v-24-Final-with-a-return-to-Event-Competition

However, we are keen to give all of those who have trained hard over the past few months an opportunity to compete, with restrictions on indoor contact for over 18’s expected to be lifted later this month.

Boxing Scotland will communicate any further updates regarding the Novice Championships as we have it available.

Regards,

Boxing Scotland

Dear Members,

I write to you all having completed almost 10 months in post as CEO of Boxing Scotland. I feel extremely privileged to hold this position, and one which I have thoroughly enjoyed since arrival in February of this year.

This past year has once again been a very difficult and challenging year for all, as the world continues to live through the ever changing COVID landscape. However, it has also been a year that has brought the membership together, and in turn the spirit in which we have seen a lot of hope and promise that the sport of boxing will continue to thrive across Scotland.

All of our boxers, coaches, officials and club committee’s deserve incredible credit for helping to navigate our sport through some extremely challenging times. You will have recently seen this great work recognised for one of our fantastic coaches – Paul ‘Ratch’ Gordon, head coach of Elgin Boxing Club, who was recently awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award for his work to keep boxers active during lockdown – encapsulating the great work that has been done by boxing coaches up and down the country.

In August we finally saw what we were all waiting for, as competitive action returned for the first time in 18 months with our ‘Return to Boxing’ event, which was held at the Boxing Scotland High Performance Centre in Glasgow. There was some terrific action from the boxers on display in what was a poignant day for many.

That was followed up with a return to club shows across Scotland, while we also successfully held the School, Junior and Intermediate Championships at Ravenscraig in Motherwell in September and October respectively.

Internationally, Scotland welcomed its first ever medallist at a senior World Championships as 20-year old Light-Welterweight Reese Lynch secured a historic bronze medal in Belgrade during the month of November.

Huge credit and recognition goes to the remainder of the Elite Boxing Group who competed in Serbia for making it our most successful ever World Championships, in addition to our national coaches Craig McEvoy and Mike Keane for leading the team.

Our national coaching team grew in 2021, with former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Stephen Simmons joining as ‘Apprentice Coach’ as part of the sportscotland Coaching Futures Programme, while former three-weight World Champion Ricky Burns has also been assisting the Performance Team this year as a new addition to the organisation.

On the Officials front, the future development of our Supervisors and R&J looks clear after a new Officials Committee was formed to help lead and drive the new Officials pathway, led by new Chair Jim Stirling.

Looking forward into 2022, entries for the Novice Championships in February are now open and clubs are actively encouraged to get their applications completed before the closing date of 14^th January 2022.

There has also been significant change to the BSL Club and Domestic Guidelines, and members are strongly encouraged to read the updated version 3, particularly all supervisors, club coaches and matchmakers, as the dates have been extended to allow more flexibility for the matchmaking of bouts in relation to club shows.

With regards to the Boxing Scotland Head Office, this will be closed from Friday 17^th December, and will re-open on Monday 10^th January 2021. For anyone wishing to contact the team, please send all questions or queries in the first instance to Communications@boxingscotland.org. Emails will be monitored during the festive period.  In the interim, any urgent announcements in respect of COVID management will be communicated out directly to clubs and via our Boxing Scotland website.

In closing, we hope that next year will continue to remain extremely positive for the sport of boxing, and hopefully you can all enjoy a well-earned break with your families during the festive season.

On behalf of the Boxing Scotland Team, we thank you for your continued support and would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chris Roberts OBE

CEO Boxing Scotland

Dear Members,

Boxing Scotland would like to inform you of some upcoming changes regarding coaching badges.

From January 1^st 2022, all new coaching applications will need to provide a certificate proving they have completed a ‘Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport’ workshop within the past three years.

This change does not affect coaches who have already received their badge for the 2021-2022 season.

However, we would like to give prior notice that ALL coaches will need to have completed the above CWPIS workshop within the past three years in order to receive their badge for the 2022-2023 season next summer.

This gives coaches a number of months notice in order to complete the workshop.

Please note, for the 2022-2023 season clubs will also have to have in place a Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer who has completed both the above course and the ‘Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer’ workshop within the past three years.

Boxing Scotland will be putting on more Child Protection workshops in 2022 to assist individuals to complete these, with dates to be published in the new year.

Please note, however, there is not a requirement to do this workshop through Boxing Scotland as it does not matter which sport/Local Authority is hosting the workshop, the course material is the same.

Please find below a link to a list of upcoming courses;

Training courses (sportscotland.org.uk)

Any certificates should be e-mailed to your respective Regional Development Officer on completion.

North District – Ben Holme, ben.holme@boxingscotland.org

East District – Stewart Ferguson, stewart.ferguson@boxingscotland.org

West District – Paul Coleman, paul.coleman@boxingscotland.org

Regards,

Boxing Scotland