The Sunshine Coast Boxing Club has a new lease on life and a new squared circle to call its own.
The club recently re-located from the Gibsons and Area Community Centre to a new boxing gym at 1010 Chamberlin Rd. in a building that formerly housed Alta Electric.
The facility is open Monday to Thursday and is permanently set up for boxing. The club spent the last two seasons in a put-up, take-down situation at the community centre, and while that was a good start-up for the club, coach Rick Shannon said this new permanent facility will allow club members to excel even further.
"While it never felt like our home or had the feel of being a boxing gym, it did get us started, and we are thankful for that," said Shannon, who is a Boxing Canada certified coach and club co-founder along with competitive boxer Randy Hollett.
Shannon said a new ring is almost complete and the club is fully equipped with all the gloves, head gear, skipping ropes and medicine balls required by its members. Gibsons Building Supplies and Wakefield Homes donated all the materials for the ring.
The club offers youth recreational boxing programs Monday and Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. for ages 10 to 16. Competitive boxers of all ages as well as recreational members 17 and up can train Monday and Wednesday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.
"In having our own boxing facility, we can offer a true boxing atmosphere, which will be more fun and enable our competitive boxers a training environment similar to the boxers in other communities," Shannon said. "Our boxers will spar in an actual ring which is a big step towards levelling the playing field."
Shannon said the club, a non-profit club run by volunteers for the betterment of amateur boxing and fitness for youth and adults, wants to offer boxing as a fun and rewarding fitness opportunity for recreational members and to develop competitive boxers who will represent the Sunshine Coast as champions.
"We are a novice club that has tasted success already with David Nygren winning the 2009 B.C. Golden Gloves novice title and Cale Fraser winning his only bout in the first round earlier this year," Shannon said. "Our short term goal is to develop our boxers through bouts in the Lower Mainland over the upcoming season and the long term goal is to enter the Bronze Gloves B.C. novice boxing championship in June 2011 and come home as champions.
"The community is welcome to come to the new boxing club and see what it has to offer."
