Boxing club set for another season

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Jennifer Holleman thinks this is the year people see the Tri-County Mariners Amateur Boxing Club as one that not only turns out talented female fighters, but talented fighters in general.

In just a short time the club has become a big hit in the community. The Main Street location is filled on any given night with boys and girls of all ages. Beyond that, the club is also establishing itself as one that produces quality athletes.

Holleman took several girls to nationals last year and they returned with medals. The boys in the club are also beginning to come into their own. With the 2011 Canada Winter Games not far away, Holleman said many of the boys — boxing is not offered for girls at Canada Games — have an easy goal to use as motivation. At the moment she expects to have four or five boys in the club who meet the age criteria for the team, which says athletes must be born between 1993-1995. "It's a hard age to work with (athletes) because they have a lot of things on the go," said Holleman. "It's a huge commitment to make, but I think if I can portray to them that it's the experience of a lifetime — as it certainly will be — I think that certainly is a motivation for them to want to work hard towards it."

One of those boys is Jared McKay. McKay was new to the sport last year but quickly showed promise. He was part of a provincial team that travelled to Quebec this summer to compete at the Quebec Cup. Fighting in the 48kg novice division, McKay won two out of three fights, stopping opponents from Quebec and Saskatchewan, to come home with a silver medal. "He was kind of one of those kids that was a fly-by-night kind of kid and just came in because he wanted to try it out," said Holleman. "It wound up that he was extremely talented. He's just taken things to the next level in a real hurry."

Beyond Canada Games, Holleman is hoping the success of McKay and other athletes in the club shows people in the area interested in the sport that people can succeed at high levels no matter where they come from. Workouts at Holleman's club aren't exactly lacking in intensity and any question about whether or not Holleman pushes his athletes is put to rest as soon as you see her running practices.

The club opens this Friday at 6 p.m., with regular practices picking up the following week.