RATHBONE & HAWLEY ABC CLUB NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2023

The 2023-2024 season is now upon us and both cubs are looking forward to being active and getting many of our boxers out on the circuit and competing.

Shows & Competitions

We have 3 home shows booked in for this season all taking place at Camden Boxing Club

First up is the RABC show – 1st December 2023

Followed by the HABC show  – 8th March 2024

And finally a joint show to celebrate both our clubs – 31st May 2024

There will be places for boxers on both shows, but priority will be given to the hosting club boxers first.

Home shows are always a great place to start your competitive journey, in familiar surroundings and the support of a home crowd, so we really hope that we have new boxers from both clubs taking to the ring.

National Development Championships

This competition is fast approaching with the London rounds from mid September.

Representing HABC is Gen, who is busy training and has had some quality sparring over the last few weeks with National Champion and England Boxer Viv Parsons from Afeewee ABC and at Dale Youth ABC.  

King of the Ring Sweden

This all-male competition takes place in Sweden the first weekend in November.  Boxers from around the globe participate and it is a great 3-day tournament.  Last year Josh and James from RABC won gold medals.  Do we have any Kings this year? We will be taking a small team from both clubs and all the boys have gold in sight.

RABC move

Rathbone Boxing Club has relocated to a new space around the corner from the old gym and the amateur club has benefited from this move with a new, bigger, high-end gym with two rings.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the move, the club are settling into their new surroundings and enjoying having more space.

JABBR at HABC

Jabbr recently came to Camden Boxing Club to test their new AI technology, a number of HABC boxers were invited to be filmed sparring while their Deep Strike AI captured them from all angles tracking their footwork, punch quality and quantity.  Something for the future, maybe?  Great for our boxers to be the first to try out their system.

Sparring Sessions and Workshops

Our first all-female sparring session of the season took place on the 10th September at Camden Boxing Club.  Over 20 female boxers participated in some top-quality sparring.  Thank you to Kate, Roy, Jon, Fran & Berny for running the session.

On Sunday 8th October we are hosting another female focused workshop at Bermondsey Boxing Club. Maverick Stars are funding the event which is free for all female boxers to attend. We have discussions with experts on weight management, harnessing nerves and a boxing session to finish the day. 

Outreach Sessions

As clubs we are proud of the work we have done within the community, reaching people who might not ordinarily think about entering a boxing gym.  RABC has previously won awards for their outreach work and now it’s time for HABC to deliver some worthy programmes.

Kicking off in October is Operation Warrior. This programme will deliver free sessions for veterans every Saturday at 1pm. Our very own HABC coach Jon is a veteran himself and will be leading the sessions.

October also sees the start of our Disability Sessions on Thursdays 4pm and 5pm and our Boxing for Parkinson’s sessions every Wednesday at 11am, coached by RABC’s coach Roy. For more information on all of these sessions please see the outreach section of the website or email hawleyoutreach@camdenboxingclub.com 

Volunteers

Officials

HABC has two new judges Steve and Chanika – the latter you may remember from the BBC Idris Elba series “Fight School”, she was one of the participants and was victorious at York Hall.

Our very own Bernard has also successfully completed his judging upgrade and has qualified as a referee.

It is hugely beneficial to have officials involved with the club, not only do they keep us abreast of the rules they also judge/referee gym bouts, something we do pre-competition to give our new boxers and coaches the experience of what to expect in a real bout.  Really advantageous for novice boxers and new coaches cornering for the first time.

Coaches

HABC: Congratulations to Jon, SteveO and Fran from HABC for passing their England Boxing Level 2 coaching qualification.  Well-deserved and assets to the club, we are lucky to have you. 

Welcome to Bernard who has joined the coaching team at HABC, another brilliant addition.

Kate has transferred after 3 years at RABC to HABC to help lead the coaching team.  She’s really looking forward to supporting the team develop the squad. After 6 months on the England Boxing Coach Development Programme Kate has now successfully been accepted as a coach with team England on the pathway, all those trips up to Sheffield for camps paid off!!  

RABC: Congratulations to Roy for being appointed by London as a Regional Coach.  A great opportunity to get more involved in the region and share his experiences with the club.

Welcome to Ryan who has joined the RABC coaching team.

After a well-earned trip, Rachel returned to the club in July.  Since then, she has assisted on a GB training camp, passed her IBA 1 star which qualifies her to corner at International Competitions and has been to Poland with team England to coach at The Silesian Tournament, an all-female competition.

As always, we would like to thank all our coaches who give up a huge amount of time to support our clubs and boxers, it would be impossible to function without them.  We appreciate you all.

Fundraiser needed

Both our clubs are non-profit organisations, so all the staff, coaches, secretary etc are volunteers, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning.  We are always looking for more volunteers to help with our shows and we need a fundraiser for Hawley, so if you know anyone who is good at raising money, organised and keen to help us obtain sponsorship please let us know.  

Meanwhile RABC is raising funds with the help of Tesco as the club has been selected as one of the non-profit organisations for people in central London to vote for in store. 

PLEASE VOTE FOR US by putting a token in the box when you are at the supermarket – the more votes we get the more money Tesco will donate and we could earn up to £1500!

Extra-Curricular Activities

Congratulations to RABC Super Heavyweight boxer Matt who completed a 100km Ultra Marathon in 19 hours 10 minutes. Josh, another HeavyweightRABC boxer also completed the London Marathon earlier this year. Resilience and robustness shown here to take their big frames those long distances - 3 rounds should be easy after that endurance test!!

Finally ….

Boxing is an individual sport, in as much as it is you in the ring, but there is a whole army behind you, your coaches and your fellow teammates wanting only the best for you – teams are successful when we work - AS A TEAM, FOR THE TEAM – so whatever your goals are this season remember #FIGHTTOGETHER.

“My greatest skill was that I was coachable.  I was like a sponge and aggressive to learn”  Michael Jordan.

 Newsletter penned by Coach Kate.