The Valley Boxing Gym in Yass had a successful outing last month at Boxing Queensland’s 2022 Golden Gloves event, with four young boxers from the gym taking home silver medals.
The four silver medalists from The Valley Boxing Gym who were runners-up in the Golden Gloves event which ran from Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st of August, included Mitchell Blundell, Lachlan Harrington, Jesse Richards and Makayla Armstrong.
Aaron Reid, Owner and Trainer at The Valley Boxing Gym since December 2020 – as well as having decades-long boxing history – said he was proud of his four students and how they performed at the Golden Gloves event last month.
“The Golden Gloves is the biggest calendar tournament of the year in amateur boxing. It had over 500 competitors participate,” Aaron said.
“We got to four finals and collected four silver medals. They are just starting to hit their straps, these kids. They are still learning their craft.
“We had 14 and 15-year-olds collect silver medals so that’s pretty special. It’s a massive achievement for our little gym.”
Students at The Valley Boxing Gym have been honing their skills at the gym for a number of years, with personalised skill training coming from the coaching of Aaron.
“The kids all just started competing on February 19th this year. They train from 6am, two mornings a week. They train three nights and then they’re competing and go into camp. They train up to six hours a week,” Aaron continued.
“The four of them just fought again. I’ve got them fighting twice a month to keep them in shape. There’s another event coming up on the 30th of October at the AIS, there is one in Penrith on the 16th of October, a couple in November at Blacktown PCYC, then on the 10th of December, I’ve got them a fight.
“In another 12 months, these kids will be turning their silver medals into gold.”
All four of the silver medalists from The Valley Boxing Gym lost their Gold Medal matches; however, some fights were extremely close, with the final adjudication on a knife’s edge.
“Mitchell, Lachlan, Jesse and Makayla have shown the hard work that they’ve put in. They’ve given up a lot. They are putting some things aside in their lives to make sacrifices for boxing, but they are starting to see the fruits and rewards for the effort that they’re putting in.”
Tim Warren
