Boxing turns to Sheffield as stars arrive and major project looks to tackle crime
Two important projects arriving as boxing officials look to Sheffield
It’s not usually a good thing to see people throwing punches outside Sheffield Station.
But when they’re doing that in boxing gloves on a specially erected boxing ring to mark two important developments in the city, it is something the sport looks to celebrate.
That’s because England Boxing has its eyes firmly on Sheffield.
On one gloved hand, it is in the process of trying to set up a new training centre in the city for some of the best young up and coming boxers in the country.
On the other, it is running a research project, largely focused on South Yorkshire, which aims to show that boxing is a good way to stop people turning to crime.
The plans for a national centre have led to a planning application for a new gym near Meadowhall. It would be in a building near the M1 which was until recently a distribution centre run by clothing retailer River Island.
It would make the city the base for a second national boxing facility.
It would provide a modern training and working environment for more than 250 boxers, coaches and staff, say officials.
England Boxing hopes to convert the warehouse into a gym and boxing venue that would be used by some of the best young fighters in the country, as well as members of the England team for Commonwealth Games tournaments.
One of those using it would be Emily Asquith. She originally came to Sheffield to study at Sheffield Hallam University, and stayed in the city because she liked it so much.
Now she is a silver medalist in the light heavyweight world championships. She discovered boxing after she tried it when her swimming lesson got cancelled, at the age of 11.
She went to her brother’s boxing session and ended up having her first sparring session.
She said: “The rest is history!
“I went to university at Sheffield Hallam, and I just loved the city, and I loved the boxing gym that I’ve gone to, and I loved that I was close by to what is currently GB’s facilities. We’re now going on to England having its own facilities, and it felt like the right place to be.”
At the planned new base, she will be a performance athlete boxer through England Boxing, training at the new facility. The senior performance programme leader, Amanda Coulson, will take most of her training.
Emily says the new facility is essential.
“The England senior performance programme got me to where I am in the sport now,” she told The Star.
“I’ve won a world silver medal through them, so I’ve got the number two ranking in the world through this programme. So having our own facilities as well, I can only see it going up from there.”
But it is not just new facilities in Sheffield that the boxing world is looking at.
A scheme looking to show that channelling youngsters who are at risk of getting involved in crime, into boxing, can keep them on the straight and narrow, operates here.
For the last six months, the scheme, called Moves Different, has been running at both Aspire Boxing Club, near Frecheville, as well as Unity Boxing Club, in Rawmarsh, Rotherham.
Moves Different is a crime prevention programme, supporting young people in school years nine to 13 who are considered most at risk of crime, violence, and anti-social behaviour.
The programme uses boxing and physical activity as a vehicle for engagement, helping young people to build confidence, resilience, discipline and positive relationships through sessions delivered in gyms and boxing clubs.
Since launching six months ago, over 130 have taken part in Sheffield and Rotherham. It is also running in London.
The scheme will look to see if joining a boxing club helps those who take part more than a group who just have a six month gym membership.
Among the coaches taking part nationally is another of those boxers training in Sheffield, Viv Parsons.
She is part of the Team GB squad, and hopes to represent Britain at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years time.
A Londoner, she was heading to Sheffield station to go to her home city when she saw the boxing ring outside the station.
She was watching, having already done her training for the day.
She doesn’t tell those she helps that she may be in the next Olympics.
She said: “I’m based in Brixton, so my club, Afewee Boxing Club, has started one of the branches of the Move Different programme. So there’s one up here in Sheffield and there’s one back down in my gym in London.
“It’s a really vital programme to help teens who are on the verge of criminality and going down the wrong path, just to get them in a boxing gym, and get them doing something that they love as well. So I’ve helped to run some of those courses at my home gym.
“It’s really growing. My one in Brixton, we’re getting 10, 15 kids to most sessions. It’s keeping them for about six months programme and hopefully building them into competitive boxing, or whatever else they want to take from the programme.”
Holly Boden is running the project in South Yorkshire. She said: “Moves Different is a two year crime prevention programme being delivered nationally across the UK, split into different regions, and with one of those being South Yorkshire.
“It’s for young people between 12 and 18 that are at a greater risk of anti-social behaviour, violence and offending. So we’re giving them the opportunity to get into physical activity and when they’re referring , they get put into a randomisation. They either get a six month boxing programme at a participating boxing club, or a six month gym membership at a participating gym.”
Nationally there have been over 500 people involved.
“It’s going really well,” said Holly.
“The engagement that we’ve had from professionals and young people has been really really positive, and the feedback we’ve had from parents and carers of those young people has been really really good, so it’s going really well so far.
“The participating club at the minute that’s delivering the boxing, is Inspire Boxing Club, which is in S12, and the Unity Boxing Club that’s delivering it in Rotherham in Rawmarsh.”
Dom Chesterton, from Killamarsh, is one of the coaches involved at the sessions. He said his family had always been into boxing. After lockdown he started going to Woodhouse Boxing Club, and now boxes there as well as coaching too.
Now he is working with Holly to help the youngsters referred to the scheme.
He said: “Every week, I’m at the sessions, helping coach the kids. So I’m at Unity on a Tuesday and Aspire on a Thursday.
“It’s good to see the kids every week because you build that relationship with them, you see how much they progress in boxing terms as well as you get to known them.”