St Mary’s Boxing Club in Tallaght, Dublin, is run by volunteers. The 75 or so members pay between €8-€10 weekly, which is used to run the club.
The club considers itself to be a family, a community of people that wants to harness their energy in a healthy way, get fit, compete in tournaments, or not. It is open to anyone aged eight years or over. The club has produced an Olympic medallist in Kellie Harrington, and fellow Olympian Gráinne Walsh also trains there. There is a strong female presence in the club, or a “girl gang” as adult member Isabella Hughes describes it.
Members’ achievements are dotted all over the club; newspaper clippings from various tournaments, signs congratulating different wins and medals, from national and international tournaments.
According to the volunteers, attending the club and getting into boxing kept them on the straight and narrow when they were growing up, so now they return the favour in keeping others on the right path. If the young boxers feel a bit better coming out of training, then they have done their jobs, volunteers Noel Burke and Mel Leonard say.
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