Tucked away in the heart of the Norfolk countryside you will find Attleborough Boxing Club (ABC) a state of art boxing facility with Sport England accreditation.
Their mantra is ‘from acorns to oak trees ’ which applies to both the growth of the club and the young people who join.
The club is open for children and adults who want to improve their fitness and those who aspire to box competitively like Daerlarrna Blackwell (aged 12). Despite being only 12 Daerlarrna has already had three bouts and competed in the Bristol Box Cup in which she lost to an Irish Champion. Her coach said that ‘she boxed incredibly well against a much more experienced opponent’, it must have been a tremendous learning experience for her.
Also Lily Connaughton (aged 14), Lily has a brother Charlie who boxes for the club and he encouraged her when she took an interest. No-one was surprised when she was given the accolade of Most Improved Junior Boxer because of her determination and attitude throughout the year, having made big strides in her development.
Coach Abigail Dennis is a Level 1 boxing coach soon to progress to level 2, she works closely with both girls on a weekly basis, and has overseen the progression in them both and thinks the effort they both put in is brilliant.
Attleborough continues to develop and promote female coaches and female boxing, and they have had a lot of success with their female boxers in their 6 years as a club. They endeavour to create a friendly environment in the gym in order to be welcoming and accommodating to those girls and women wanting to compete or keep fit.
Currently they have 30+ boxers including 3 girls on squad and development with 4 more coming through, not including the over 18s participating in the keep fit sessions.
Abigail Dennis runs ladies only sessions for 18+ years on a Tuesday and Thursday each week, these consist of boxing drills e.g pad and bag work, partner work, circuits, strength sets. At the present time there are between 7 and 10 women attending on a Tuesday and numbers on Thursday are also growing.
This is a great way to get fit and anyone who is interested in either general fitness or learning how to box would be sure of a warm welcome.
If you are interested in finding out any more about Attleborough Boxing club and joining in one of their sessions please contact them on: succeed@attleboroughabc.co.uk or via telephone: 01953 457 329 you can view their website here.
If you are interested in boxing in another area of the country please get in touch and we will try and put you in contact with a local club.
Photo above shows Lily with her Most Improved Junior award and Daerlarrna with the School’s Boxer of the Year Award.
Many thanks to Abigail Dennis and Attleborough Boxing Club
