The Irish Federation of Sport has honoured two boxing club members with accolades at the 2022 Volunteers in Sport Awards, bestowed this week.

Carmel O’Neill is Paulstown Boxing Club, Kilkenny’s Secretary, and has been contributing to the running and administration of the club for well over 10 years. While the County Derry award went to Micky Fleming of Churchlands Golden Gloves.

The Volunteers in Sport Awards celebrate the contributions of the band of volunteers across the country who give their time to Irish sport and physical activity every year. This equates to approximately 37.3 million hours of volunteering across Ireland’s 13,000 registered sports clubs and associations and, according to Sport Ireland’s 2021 ‘Researching the Value of Sport in Ireland’ report, is worth an estimated €1.5bn to the exchequer.

County	First	Surname	Sport	Club
Antrim	Katie	Speers	Rugby	Ballymoney RFC
Armagh	Sally	Rafferty	Camogie	St Brenda’s Camogie Club
Carlow	John	Jacob	Martial Arts	Carlow Muay Thai
Cavan	Breda	Galligan	Camogie	Castletara Camogie Club
Clare	Paul	McGibney	Basketball	Kilrush Basketball Club
Cork	Collette	Riordan	Athletics	West Muskerry AC
Derry	Micky	Fleming	Boxing	Churchlands Golden gloves
Donegal	Martin Shankey	Smith	GAA	Naomh Conall GAA
Down	Mickey	Redmond	GAA	Saval GAC
Dublin City	Joe	Davitt	GAA	Ranelagh Gaels
Dublin – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown	Clara	Clark	Cycling	Cycling without Age
Dublin Fingal	Ciara	McCluskey	Running	Dublin Sanctuary Runners
Dublin – South Dublin Co. Council	Tony	Hickey	Swim	Fortunestown Swim Club
Fermanagh	Chloe	Hamilton	Paddlesports	Erne Paddlers
Galway	Catherine	Moore	Hockey	Greenfields Hockey Club
Kerry	Jean	Courtney	Athletics	Killarney Valley AC
Kildare	Eddie	Hennessey	Soccer	Clonmullion FC
Kilkenny	Carmel	O’Neill	Boxing	Paulstown Boxing Club
Laois	Marie	Thompson	Hockey	Abbeyleix Hockey Club
Leitrim	Eimear	Doonan	GAA	Fenagh GAA
Limerick	Joe	Chawke	Athletics	Dooneen AC
Longford	Grzegorz	Wiechec	Volleyball	Longford Smashers Volleyball Club
Louth	Olivia	Wall	GAA	Roche Emmets GFC
Mayo	Deirdre	Maloney Reid	GAA	Moy Davitts GAA Club
Meath	Deborah	Kelly-Long	Basketball	East Coast Cavaliers
Monaghan	Christina	Weldon	GAA	Latton O’Rahilly GAA Club
Offaly	Paul	Buckley	Athletics	Ferbane AC.
Roscommon	Frank	Grehan	GAA	St. Aidans GAA Club
Sligo	Kay	Curley	Tennis	Sligo Tennis Club
Tipperary	Niall	O’Sullivan	Athletics	Clonmel Athletic Club
Tyrone	Martin	Cassidy	Soccer	Omagh Futsal Club
Waterford	Michael	Cox	Soccer	Park Rangers AFC
Westmeath	Déirdre	Orme	GAA	Crookedwood GAA
Wexford	Denis	Cadogan	GAA and Handball	Horeswood GAA & Handball Club
Wicklow	Aislinn	Nugent	LGFA	Valleymount LGFA

A reminder of the advisory on international travel issued by National Secretary, Antoinette Faye McClean, in December  to clubs, county boards and provincial units on the procedures around permission to travel abroad for competition:

“Any team traveling abroad must first email details requesting permission from their County Board. The County Board Secretary will then forward to their Provincial Council Secretary.  The Provincial Council will email the Office and myself.  Permissions will then be sent back to the Provincial Council Secretary to be sent on to the County Board and or club.

Clubs are advised to seek permission of their county board 3 weeks before they intend to travel.  

In instances where clubs are bringing a team including boxers from other clubs abroad, each club with a boxer on the team is not required to apply for permission to travel. The lead club should apply for permission to travel to their county board three weeks before departure, including the names and clubs of all boxers on the team.”

In addition, club members, clubs, county boards and provincial units are reminded of Rule 47.2 of the IABA Rulebook, as unanimously adopted by clubs in 2019:

“A club, or a member of a club, shall not assist in the promotion of or participate in, a tournament or contest not sanctioned by the immediate governing body be it the County Board, the Provincial Council or the Central Council as appropriate. A club organising a tournament shall, before advertising the details of the programme submit the proposed programme to and obtain the permission of the immediate governing body.”

IABA Rulebook

Referees and judges are reminded that officiating at a tournament is deemed participation.

Disciplinary sanctions will apply where there is a clear breach of the IABA Rules, which may result in suspension , fines or expulsion, upon completion of the relevant disciplinary process.

Ulster IABA is extending an invitation to affiliated members to attend a keynote conference on High Performance.

The event, on March 26th at the Devenish Complex, Belfast, is designed to give clubs an insight into the culture, trends and workings of High Performance boxing. Special guests from boxing’s past & present who will be on hand to give their take on boxing’s evolution through the years of the High Performance Unit.

Special Guests include:

Carl Frampton
Paddy Barnes
Brendan Irvine
Aidan Walsh
Michaela Walsh
Jude Gallagher
Dylan Eagelson
John Conlan

This is a free event, organised with the support of IABA, Sport NI, County Antrim Board, Belfast City Council and Ulster Boxing – however, tickets are on a first come, first served basis, and are available here

The 2023 National Boy/Girl 1, 2 and 3 Championships will take place at the home of Irish Boxing, the National Stadium, in mid-April.

Competition Arrangements

Venue: National Boxing Stadium, Dublin.

Dates: April 10^th – April 16^th.

Entries: An entry fee of €20 applies. Boxers will be pre-entered by their Units from the weights they won at in their Unit Championships. Deadline for entries received by Phillip Rooney boxing.referee@hotmail.com and sally@iaba.ie is 12pm on Monday 03rd April.

Any boxer beaten in their Unit championships but who was an Irish Champion at Boy/Girl 1 & 2 from 2022, is eligible for participation as the defending champion.

Draws: Tuesday, 04th April, 2pm in the National Stadium.

The draw is being conducted on the basis of pre-entry only.

Weigh-in and Medical: Boxers will weigh only on the day they box.

Boxing Record books to be presented by the boxer at their initial weigh-in if not previously given to the IABA. Entry fee to be paid at the initial weigh-in.

Weigh-in times: In National Stadium from 8.00am – 9.00am

Boxing: 11am each day

Duration of rounds: Boys & Girls 3 x 1.5 Minutes

Age Requirements: Boxers born in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

N.B. It is a condition of entry that all boxers and their clubs have signed and submitted the Members Acknowledgement Form and it is the responsibility of the entering unit that this stipulation is complied with. 

Anti-Doping 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 Mr Larry Morrison, IABA Anti-Doping Officer on 086-0292476.

Attention is called to the stipulation in the IABA Rule book that each boxer presented by his/her club shall be fit to box. This is the responsibility of the club.

Non-Pregnancy Declaration forms must be signed.

Attire: Boxers shall have one red and one blue vest but may wear their club colours. Boxers must not wear long sleeved shirts under their vests. Hair must be tied back, and swimming hats or hairnets should be worn under the headgear for boxers with long hair.

Gumshields: Red/Orange/Pink or variations of these colours are not allowed.

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. Only qualified coaches are permitted in corners.

Sportsmanship: All decisions must be accepted in a sporting manner. Any complaints must be addressed to the Chief Official, Mr. Phillip Rooney. Please show respect to all Ringside Officials.

Team Ireland’s Ava Rose Henry Lyndon has been named Boxer of the Tournament, at the completion of a 5 Nations competition, hosted by the Federazione Pugilistica Italiana.

The competition involved Ireland, Italy, France, Ukraine and Hungary, and was held in Assissi.

Team Ireland recorded a total of 14 wins over three days – culminating today with 5-0 wins for 48kg Carleigh Irving and 57kg: Natalia Fasciszewska over Ukraine. 66kg Gabrielle Mongan was similarly decisive over a home boxer. 52kg Esther Lambe took on Italy’s Martina Vassallo and came out the wrong side of a split decision.

50kg Katie O’Keefe, 54kg Niamh Keogh and Boxer of the Tournament, 60kg Ava Rose Henry Lyndon received walk-overs today.

Team Ireland return home tomorrow with the Best Boxer award, 3 golds 4 silver 1 bronze.

Team Ireland

48kg: Carleigh Maria Irving (Oakleaf)

50kg: Katie O’Keeffe  (Kanturk)

52kg: Esther Lambe (Setanta)

54kg: Niamh Keogh (Olympic Mullingar)

57kg: Natalia Fasciszewska (Castlebar)

60kg: Ava Rose Henry Lyndon (Dublin Docklands)

66kg: Gabrielle Mongan (WhiteChurch)

70kg: Nell Mc Laughlin (Eagle BC)

Coaches

William Brereton (St. Brigid’s BC)

Aoife Hennigan (Swinford BC)