Booking is now open, through your club’s Blocworx portal, for the first coaching course of 2025. This Fundamentals: Assistant Coach course is kindly hosted by Portlaoise Boxing Club, on January 4th.
This is a full day, in person introduction to coaching which includes:
The role of the Coach – Learning on coaching children and Positive Behaviour Management
Physical ABCs – agility, balance and co-ordination
Technical and Tactical skills – Developing Technical and Tactical skills, the warm-up, stance, guard, footwork, Evasive & Defensive techniques and cool-down
Corner care
Boxing as a tool to foster positive mental, personal & social development
Disability Inclusion in Boxing
Health & Safety
In addition to in-club coaching, Fundamentals qualified coaches may sit at first corner at club, county and provincial bouts and may sit at second corner at National Championships.
Entries are open to the 2025 National Youth Championships, and are being accepted until January 3rd
Competition Arrangements:
Venue: National Stadium, Dublin
Dates: January 10th, 11th, 12th and 17th, 18th 19th
Entries: A non–refundable, non-transferrable entry fee of €20 applies, including in the event of a boxer withdrawal. Online entry, via the Blocworx portal, is open until 5pm sharp, on Friday, January 3rd. Entries will not be accepted without the payment of entry fees. All fees must be paid by 5pm on January 3rd. Only boxers for whom entries have been completed and entry fees have been received will be allowed box. The draw ill take place 7th January 2024 at 1pm.
Coaches must be entered via Blocworx. Only registered coaches will be allowed to enter the field of play and the enter the changing rooms. Coach registration will be cross-checked against Garda Vetting/Access NI checks. Any registered coaches who do not have current Garda Vetting/Access NI checks will not be permitted to sit at corner and/or to enter the changing rooms.
No late entries will beaccepted
Weigh-in & Medical:
Boxers will weigh in each day they box. Individual weigh-in times may be given to participants, but this will be decided and made known prior to the event.
A medical examination will be performed on each boxer on their first day of competition.
Boxing Record books to be presented by the boxer at their initial weigh-in.
Weigh-in dates:
Friday January 10th & Friday 17th : 8.00am – 9.00am & 12.00pm – 1.00pm; Saturday January 11th & Saturday 18th : 8.00am – 9.00am and Sunday January 12th & Sunday 19th: 8.00am – 9.00am & 12.00pm – 1.00pm.
These times and dates will be dependent on entry and could change.
Boxing: Times will be contingent on entries and shall be announced after the draw.
Duration: Duration of rounds: Men & Women 3×3 minutes
Age Requirements: Boxers born between 2007 and 2008, inclusive.
It is a condition of entry that all competitors and officials have a signed Waiver/Members Acknowledgement Form and adhere to any agreement made with the Association sponsors. For underage competitions, this Waiver/Members Acknowledgement form must be co-signed by the boxer’s parent/guardian. It is a condition of entry that the Code of Conduct for Young People with respect to this competition is signed by the boxer, and their parent/guardian. The fully completed Waiver/Members Acknowledgement and the Code of Conduct for Young People must be presented at the boxer’s first weigh-in.
As the U18 National Championships form a basis for team selection for international competition, please be aware that all boxers entering this competition must:
(1) be members of an IABA affiliated club,
(2) must be explicitly named in their club’s Blocworx portal,
(3) be eligible to represent IABA under IBA eligibility regulations {4.2}, holding an applicable in-date passport,
(4) boxers must have completed the applicable waiver/code of conduct process.
No international competition kits to be worn by any boxers; boxers may wear club kit, only.
A club shall not include in its list of members the name of any person who is a member of any other club.
Accordingly, any club making an entry to the U18 Championships affirms that the entrant is not a member of any other club, in any jurisdiction
Anti-Doping:
This may be carried out at any stage of the championships and all boxers must advise the doctor of any medication they are taking or have taken in the preceding 4 weeks. It is imperative that all boxers adhere to the Anti-Doping Rules and Regulations. For any queries regarding this matter, boxers/coaches should contact IABA Anti-Doping Officer Sean Crowley, via sean.crowley@iaba.ie
Non-Pregnancy Declaration forms must be signed.
Attire:
Boxers shall have one red and one blue vest. In accordance with the IBA Technical and Competition Rule 48.7, boxers may wear form-fitting arm and/or leg coverings.
Hair must be tied back and swimming hats or hairnets should be worn under the headgear for boxers with long hair. No red, orange or pink gum shields are allowed.
A Boxer can have a beard and moustache, but either must not cover the neck and must not be longer that 10cms, in accordance with the IBA Technical and Competition Rule 4.2.5.2.2
Coaches: They must wear track suits and runners at all sessions and endeavour to set a high standard of hygiene in the corners. No shorts, caps or hats are allowed. Coaches must be registered to enter the field of play via Blocworx.
Sportsmanship: All decisions must be accepted in a sporting manner. Any complaints must be addressed to the Chief Official, Mr. Stephen Connolly. Please show respect to all Ringside Officials. A document stipulating requirement in relation to conduct, and the use of social media must be signed by all boxers and coaches at their initial weigh-in. Any misbehaviour or misuse of social media in a negative manner from members of any club relating to a boxer/coach/official will be referred to the IABA Discipline Officer under the IABA Complaints and Discipline Code, communicated to all clubs on May 17th 2024.
Please note:
The U18s Championship will be run under IBA Technical & Competition rules, as adopted on September 1st, 2022.
Referees & Judges for the U18s Championships will not be allowed enter the field of play as a coach with their club boxer.
All Referee & Judges must bring their record books.
IABA has produced and published a series of films in 2024, sharing the stories of Irish boxing, called Seconds Out. This has included profiles of Connacht’s Gus Farrell, Munster’s Anna Moore, Ulster’s Eugene Duffy, a peak inside High Performance, a profile on the work of R&Js at National Championships, a Day in the Life snapshot of High Performance athlete, Niamh Fay and profiles of the Paris 2024 team. You can watch all of the pieces HERE
Now, IABA wishes to profile and platform a successfully affiliated club within the Association. Given the sheer number of incredible clubs, clubs and their members will, themselves, vote for the club to be profiled.
How does it work?
Phase One – December 23rd to January 3rd
Please share this link https://shout.com/s/99XiKfUf with your club members, and on your social media platforms so that members can vote for your club to be featured.
This link will also be shared on IABA’s website, X/Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, so that members of the public can vote
You can vote as many times as you want
Phase Two – January 4th to January 12th
When Phase One closes on January 3rd, the shortlist of the 5 clubs with the highest number of votes will be released to all clubs and on all IABA platforms – this is Phase Two.
A new link will be shared with all clubs, and across IABA social media, so that voting for any of the top 5 shortlisted clubs can take place
Voting for the winning club will take place January 4th to 5pm on January 12th.
The winning club will be notified, and announced on all IABA platforms on January 13th.
When will filming take place?
Filming dates will be January 22nd and/or 23rd. These dates cannot be altered.
The crew will come to the winning club to film interviews with club leaders and boxers, and to film training.
The winning club must ensure that consents are in place among members for filming and for publication.
***If your club does not wish to be filmed and/or to have members interviewed, your club should not take part.
When will the film be released?
Editing and post production usually takes around 4 weeks, so, at the end of February.
IABA will publish this final film on YouTube, the IABA website, and IABA’s X/Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms.
IABA will also issue a press-release to the media to accompany publication, to further promote boxing and the winning club.
The Seconds Out: Stories of Irish Boxing films are supported by Sport Ireland, and are produced by Lowki Culture
Two IABA athletes have been nominated for HerSport awards for their extraordinary achievements in 2024.
Kellie Harrington, fresh from being crowned Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year, has been shortlisted as a HerSport athlete of the year, for making history in Paris. On August 6th, Kellie became the first ever Irish boxer to successfully defend her Tokyo Olympic title, taking home her second Olympic gold in her 4-1 defeat of China’s Wenlu Yang at the iconic Roland Garros Stadium. Kellie is nominated alongside Katie Taylore (Boxing), Ciara Mageean (Athletics), Clare Cryan (Swimming), Fionnuala McCormack (Athletics), Laura Hayes (Football), Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Football), Margaret Cremen (Cycling), Mona McSharry (Swimming) and Orla Comerford (Athletics)
Kyla Doyle has had an incredible year. The 66kg boxer, of Whitechurch BC Dublin, did the double. She won European Youth in March and World Youth gold in October. She is nominated for Young Athlete of the Year alongside Rashidat Adeleke (Athletics), Aoife Waters (Rugby), Emma Slevin (Swimming) Eve McMahon (Sailing), Lara Gillespie (Cycling), Leah Hough (Canoe freestyle), Lucy Bénézet Minns (Cycling), Orla Prendergast (Cricket) and Róisín Ní Ríain (Para Cycling)
This has been a memorable year for the Irish Boxing family, marked by incredible achievement on the international stage, and growth within our community.
I don’t think any of us will ever forget the surge of pride we felt when Kellie’s hand was raised in victory in her Olympic final. She, as part of an historic team of 10, made history in defending her title and coming home with Olympic gold a second time.
Kellie is as incomparable as the potential within our sport. Her glorious victory reached far beyond the boxing family – it reached so far that clubs registered 2,887 members in the 4 months after her win. That’s staggering, and its due not only to Kellie’s generational talent, but to the wall-to-wall coverage of that talent. Her final was the most-watched sport event in Ireland in the last decade. She spread boxing’s message, boxing’s appeal, boxing’s potential, to almost every household on this island.
It goes without saying that we are all proud of all boxers who performed so admirably on the international stage in 2024.
2024 had its challenges, some of them profound:
We are no longer part of the Irish Olympic family. We knew this could happen, and we shared this possibility with clubs in October. We also shared with clubs, after this month’s AGM, correspondence confirming we are not now a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland. How that sits with us, given we are Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, is something each of us, each club, each provincial Unit, Central Council and the Board of Directors, needs to reflect on. What that means for our future is something we must decide together. As it stands, our current Junior boxers are not on course to contest the 2026 Youth Olympics, as Lauren Kelly, Dean Clancy and Dearbhla Rooney did in the last iteration of these Games in 2018. Our current Youth and Elite boxers are not on the path to contesting LA 2028 and continuing our Olympic legacy.
The culture upheld by some members of our community, one of harassment, abusive language and misinformation, diminishes us all, and damages not only our clubs and our sport, but our ability to attract any external sponsors. It undermines the very volunteerism on which boxing is built, and drives good people, people who are capable, knowledgeable and skillful, from our sport. We introduced a Social Media Policy and Complaints and Discipline Code in May, which enables members who feel wronged by online or in-person activity to seek recourse. I encourage any and all members who feel the behaviour of others has been below the standard we all expect of the Boxing Family to make use of this Code. As I shared at the AGM, the behaviour and choices of a small cohort of members in recent years has cost the Association sponsorship which should have been invested in to boxing – in to training and provisioning teams, holding residential training camps, hosting dual and multi-nations tournaments, in to a Youth and Juniors pathway. I am aware that some members of our community find it difficult to believe that online behaviour, and behaviour in competitions, at meetings, could have any impact on a sponsor’s decision to invest in us and have their reputation aligned with ours, but this is the reality.
In March, we introduced the payment of expenses for National Championship officials, a first in the long history of our Association. This is designed to honour the service and commitment of officials without whose work National Championships could not take place. These expenses are in addition to the payment of accommodation fees for officials by IABA.
In June, clubs unanimously voted to return E49,000 in expenses incurred by 25 members who, in August 2021, were removed from the IABA by the then Central Council. The 2021 decision was upheld by an IABA membership committee on 12th November of that year. These members successfully appealed through SDSI arbitration to restore the members, and it was reimbursement of these legal costs that the Board of Directors put to members at the June EGM. All 55 clubs in attendance agreed.
We also launched our keynote 4-year Strategic Plan, In Your Corner, which will guide the growth of the Association until 2028. This plan could not have been completed without the contribution of members at 7 in-person consultation workshops. It includes provision for the reform of the Association’s internal architecture, a High-Performance Youth and Juniors Pathway, from grassroots to the top of the podium and ambitious targets for member, club and coach growth.
The year ends with the exciting installation of a new Central Council, directly elected by IABA clubs to administer boxing. This Central Council, under the guidance and leadership of President Anto Donnelly, has the honour and responsibility of administering all National Championships, and acting as the key governance and oversight body of all county boards and provincial units. These are high-responsibility tasks, and Central Council has my full support in independent administration of our sport. Boxing should be run to the highest possible administrative, sporting, development and welfare standard. Boxing should be run to this gold standard by boxing people.
I remind all clubs, as I shared at the AGM, that under no circumstances will IABA members be allowed to participate at international benchmark competitions under any flag other that the national flag in 2025
Looking forward, we are introducing important changes to IABA, not least of which includes the appointment of a permanent CEO, and High Performance Director. We’re also making headway in identifying the best CRM/club portal for boxing, supported by club members who are part of the CRM Working Group, and we will be launching a fresh website early in the New Year.
In a perfect world, I would end this message on the hopeful note of success to come, but the reality is that we stand at a cross-roads. It is the choice of which road to take which will determine our future direction, and how we grow nationally and on the international stage. I encourage all clubs and members to take the opportunity of down-time this Christmas to think on where you see us in 2028 – in LA, or at home. Who will we be watching win Olympic gold?
For now, I want to thank all of the members for the Trojan work done in clubs day in, day out. Without you, there is no Association.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and a prosperous and happy New Year to everyone.
