More than a dozen Airdrie women are tightening up their gloves and jumping into the ring this week as they prepare to make their competitive boxing debuts on April 29.
Twenty-two women have participated in a three-month, all-female training program at the Airdrie-based Humble Boxing Academy, and 18 of those athletes are now set to participate in the gym's first ever Canadian Women’s Boxing Contest (CWBC).
Humble Boxing Academy head coach Lucas George said he looks forward to seeing the women showcase the skills they have developed this year.
“I’m amazed, honestly,” he said. “I’m very excited to see how they’re going to perform because they’ve come a very long way from when they first stepped foot in a gym.”
The athletes were tasked with learning some boxing basics, and they’re now ready to put those fundamental skills to the test in a competitive environment.
“We had to teach them everything from their basic stance to their basic punching,” George said. “Even just the field of play within boxing – the rules, the regulations, the fouls… we kind of just took everything from the beginning and ran ‘em to the end.”
The head coach said he’s noticed some of the women are nervous for the upcoming fight card, but also have a high level of excitement.
George said that being nervous in the lead-up to a fight is a good thing, however, as it shows the coaches the boxers care, and that they are ready to present their skills to a public audience.
“As a coach, we do like to see a little bit of anxiety because it’s our body’s way of saying that we want to perform well,” he said.
While boxing is still recognized as a heavily male-centric sport, George said he’s eager for all-female fight cards like the CWBC to become more normalized.
The local coach wants more women to take up the sport and create programs that bring them into the world of boxing.
“Every woman we’ve ever dealt with are all so very talented and they turn out to be amazing boxers,” he said. “It’s very important that we create programs like this, and we bring awareness to females in sport so that we can retain the women that do go into boxing.”
Getting women inside the gym is the first step to that commitment. But George said after that first step is taken, it’s typical for women to stay with the sport.
“Once we get them through the door, the retention is there,” he said.
George hopes the women competing in the upcoming fight night look at the sport in a different way and apply their newly found boxing skills into their lives in other capacities.
“I hope they gain a whole new appreciation for the sport,” he said. “I hope that they find that inner fighter, and whether they stick with boxing or they don’t, they take the skills and the mentality that they learned from this and put it into their everyday life.”
Deborah Sibley, a participant in the upcoming event, said she had a variety of feelings as the group heads into the fights.
“It's the whole spectrum,” Sibley said. “There’s the excitement to fulfill a goal and then there’s the nerves.
“With boxing, there’s always the risk of injury – and I ain’t no spring chicken.”
According to George, proceeds from the CWBC will support a few local charities, including the Airdrie Food Bank, Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society, and a breast cancer research organization.
With the event bringing awareness to domestic violence, breast cancer, and food security, Sibley feels a close personal connection to the issues.
“A girlfriend of mine was the victim of domestic violence,” she said. “So, when he [Lucas] said domestic violence was one of them, that’s near and dear to my heart – and same as breast cancer.”
The CWBC is taking place on April 29 at the Airdrie Town and Country Centre. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets cost $30. Attendees that bring non-perishable food items will receive $5 off their admission.
“If you don’t bring non-perishable food, we take $5 from every $30 ticket and give it back to the food bank,” George said.
