Athlone Boxing Club’s fab five crowned national champions

Club sets sights on new premises

Athlone Boxing Club is - if you’ll pardon the pun - punching well above its weight.

The club recently saw no fewer than five of its up-and-coming boxers win All-Ireland titles at the National Stadium in Dublin.

JP Joyce (Boy 1, 52kg), Joe Ward (Boy 2, 44.5kg), Oisin Donoghue (Boy 4, 85kg) and Tom Stokes (Under-18, 85kg) each won gold in their categories, while Joe Joyce became the national champion in the Youth 1, 85kg, grade.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent, the club’s head coach, Rory Parkes, said each of the young boxers had performed brilliantly and their victories were testament to their hard work and dedication.

“To win an All-Ireland boxing title, or to win an All-Ireland in any sport, is huge. To win five, with a small pool of boxers, is a massive thing altogether,” he remarked.

“There are 350-odd boxing clubs in Ireland, and we’re probably up there in the top ten at this stage, with the amount of titles we’re winning. And our season isn’t over yet.”

He said this success was particularly notable given that the club is operating out of a small premises which lacks changing rooms or even a toilet.

Since 2006, Athlone Boxing Club’s gym has been in the basement of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, but the club is working with Westmeath County Council in an effort to realise its ambition of developing a new state-of-the-art facility in the coming years.

Rory said it was clear that the facilities in which the club currently operates are no longer suitable if it is to continue to grow and develop in the years ahead.

“We are very restricted in terms of the numbers we can let into the club, because we have such a small floor space. Other boxing clubs don’t like to travel down to us because there’s no changing facilities, there’s no toilet facilities.

“We are on the road an awful lot, so it’s a huge amount of work. We train in the club during the week and if we’re not boxing at the weekend we are gone away to these other clubs, that have (better) facilities, to get sparring in and get the experience for the lads so they can compete at the highest level.

“Our facilities, at this stage, are not acceptable. A lot of parents come down to us and they turn on their heels, unfortunately, and walk out. It turns a lot of people off the sport.”

With the assistance of local councillors Aengus O’Rourke and John Dolan, Rory said the club has been working with the council towards advancing its plans to develop a new premises in Athlone.

He said the aim was to develop “a purpose-built building, with changing facilities, with toilets, and ample space so we can produce even more champions down the line”.

“We will need the local community, and businesses, to weigh in behind us and help us out to raise cash so that we can build this premises for these kids,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we’re doing this for children. We are all volunteers who give up our time. Myself and (fellow coach) Joe Ward give up our time voluntarily for this to try to better children, and get the best outcomes for children from Athlone.

“Aengus O’Rourke and John Dolan are helping us out and we’re hoping to have a planning application going in, over the next few months, for a new club.”

Paying tribute again to the club’s five All-Ireland champions, he said: “These boxers are going up to the national stadium, a 2,500-seater stadium, and performing brilliantly.

“We have a very strong winners mentality in the club, and success follows them,” he concluded.

*See more photos in this week's Westmeath Independent.