A LOCAL club has presented awards to some of the boxers who impressed this season, as boxing continues to be a big hit in Swan Hill.
Swan Hill Boxing Club held their final classes this week, before taking a break for Christmas.
One of the club’s coaches, Thomas Mitchell, said people of all ages had joined the club to keep their fitness high.
“Any Wednesday we have about 20 to 30 kids here taking part, aged all the way from preschool to Grade 6,” he said.
“Our open classes have been stacked all year long, which is also really good.”
One member of the club was rewarded for taking his boxing to the next level this year, which included multiple amateur fights in Melbourne, and one win.
“Tynan Keam won the Bill Kennedy Award this year,” Mitchell said.
“The award is honour of an old gentleman who spent many years at the boxing club and is awarded to the person who is our boxer of the year.
“Ty represented the club down in Melbourne, and he puts in a lot of extra work, so it’s a well-deserved award.
“It can be pretty easy to lose and then not want to return to the ring, but he’s still jumping in the ring and still keen to take it on.
“I think that will set him up really well for more wins in the future.
“Our most-consistent award went to Natalie Fazzalori, who is an absolute sicko for the sport. She gets down to the double classes each week.
“Our masters’ boxer of the year went to Luke Kelly, and we had a most-improved award which went to Iliya Hussain.”
Mitchell said that when it came to value, there wasn’t much that could beat their classes.
“For some structured exercise, where you are actually being trained and taught, I don’t think there’s anything with better value,” he said.
“Don’t be afraid to just come and have a go for a session. It’s just $5 a lesson.
“If you pay that and it’s not for you then you’ve only lost an amount of money that couldn’t even buy you a coffee.”
Mitchell said it took many hands to ensure the volunteer-run club went smoothly.
“It’s a real team effort down at the club; it’s not just a one-person show,” he said.
“Allison (Jager) has been a huge help for myself and Matt (Phelan) this year.
“If we had to deal with the cash side of things then I don’t think we’d be quite as keen. We’ve been really lucky to have her.
“This is the first year that we’ve had sponsors, and without them I’m not sure where the club would be.”
Mitchell said classes would return early next year.
“We started this in January this year and have gone all the way through to this week,” he said.
“We’re generally back in here as soon as work goes back.
“That’s one of the differences from other sports that have their seasons, but we are all year long.”
