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The Rutland Secondary School gym was buzzing Sunday afternoon for the 2010 B.C. boxing Provincials. The winners will go on to represent at the upcoming National championships.
Kelowna boxing coach and promoter Dave Habib finds it hard to keep his focus as the first fight approaches.
“It’s a huge event for Kelowna that doesn’t usually leave the coast but they have changed the system and it will be hosted in a different community every year now and Kelowna is the first and that is a really nice treat for us,” Habib stated.
The last time boxing was on in Kelowna was in 2008 and had one of the biggest crowds at an amateur boxing event in the country, according to Boxing Canada.
“We are now one of the biggest clubs in the country for registered members being more than twice the size of any club in the province.” Habib said.
Habib has been involved with the Kelowna Boxing Club since 1979 as a competitor and a coach. The club has been around since the 1950s and wasn’t that long ago when the likes of Sean O’Sullivan, Lennox Lewis and Willie DeWitt actually trained here in Kelowna.
“Kelowna has a long history with boxing and has been very successful; there were many years when Kelowna was the top club in the province and John Agar who won last night has fought for 11 provincial titles and has never lost,” Habib said.
Boxing is attracting people of all ages but mostly the younger ones.
“The majority of our members are between the ages of 11 to 16, but we work with players from the NHL right down to the Rockets and a lot of the minor hockey players are members and right now we are introducing ourselves back into the school system. In the U.K. 1,397 schools have introduced boxing into schools there and is pulling kids away from gang violence and keeping them off of drugs; attendance and grades are up. The results are staggering,” said Habib.
“We do everything out of passion for the kids; every child is different. We are not the kind of club that customizes one diet for a hundred kids, That doesn’t work. Everybody’s make up and minds are different. We individualize everybody’s training. We do the same basic skills, but we open ourselves up to treating every athlete as an individual because you have to. You have to use your head and your heart,” Habib added.
There are many misconceptions about boxing even though it has less injuries than hockey, football and even cheerleading competitions.
Dr. ColinYarrow, a family practitioner in Kelowna was invited by the boxing club to be the ringside physician.
“I think a lot of people think it’s a brutal sport and that no one is looking after these guys and I think that is wrong. From what I have seen growing up playing rugby, boxing is very safe in comparison,” Yarrow told Kelowna.com.
“I think a lot of people worry about head injuries and concussions and what that does and I think they are legitimate concerns in any sport, but I am pleasantly surprised, I haven’t dealt with any serious injuries. I have yet to have to do anything but check a few snotty noses and split lips,” he added. (Photos Gary Moore)
Tags: boxing, colin yarrow, dave habib, events fight, provincials, punch, rutland gary moore
