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11/12/2008
Portsmouth schools get fit to box
Portsmouth City Council is supporting the ABAE in getting more schools to include boxing as part of their activities, by committing funding for four schools within the city.
Isambard Brunel, Charles Dickens, Arundel Court and Flying Bull schools have all signed up to include the ABAE's non-contact boxing awards as part of after-school activity, and the programme has been so successful that they are now looking to target more schools, including all ten secondaries in the city, next year.
The council and local organisations have worked together to set up a boxing club within the grounds of a school, one of a few clubs withing schools now in England. St Luke's School has a community sports centre within its grounds and Krysia Butwilowska, headmistress, allowed ten of her students to take part in a two week pilot project. Mrs Butwilowska said: "The pupils seem to be keen to join the boxing academy, the boxing lessons appear to be going very well and are very popular." The school is now looking to implement the new ABAE educational qualification, which is a GCSE level C equilivant (ASDAN).
Boxing is booming in Portsmouth at the moment. Three ex amateur boxers who now coach at Heart of Portsmouth Boxing Academy, Paul Kapnisi, Michael Saunders and Suraj Popa, have been teaching in schools in the community. Colin said: "We are looking to get the youngsters into sport and a healthy lifestyle, and it's good to be able to give them something to do in the evenings and at weekends."
The ABAE's southern counties president John Faulkner has visited the academy and is delighted with what is happening in Portsmouth. "This has gone full circle," he said. "We always had boxing in schools when I was a boy. This is a great initiative and I am very impressed, hopefully this will produce more boxing clubs in the city."
