When Shaun was a
school boy, boxing was about who was the most aggressive but now it has changed and
it is more about technique and similar to the scoring
in fencing. When asked what young people get out of it, Shaun Weeks replied, “Young people get fitness, self-discipline. It is a social thing. They come from surrounding towns and villages and people they would not normally meet become friends, plus it is about leaning to respect people. We see them come in at ten and twelve years old and see them develop and help keep some of them on the straight and narrow. They do tend to come to us for advice if they can’t go to their teachers or parents. Mothers ring us up for help. One lad came back after getting into trouble and being absent for a long while and said,'“ I want to get back on track and this is where I can get it.”' They know where to come to and we never turn anyone away.”
Michael Compton is a
regular member and was having difficulties at school and started coming to the
club when he was ten and that was seven years ago. Shaun said “He was
unfortunate not to win before, but he was on his 9th or 10th
bout and he boxed a lad in three rounds and it was a close contest and the
referee put his arm up to show he had won and he must have jumped a foot off the ground. The look
on his face was like he had won the world title. That means a lot to me."
Michael Compton
helped us conduct interviews at the club and was also interviewed himself. He said
“The head coach Shaun Weeks is reliable. He is always there for boxers, to
provide help and you can always talk to him about your sporting life, school
life anything. He is basically the rock this club was built on. It shows how
strong you are when you stay in the ring. I will definitely be following the
Olympics. A lot of them did amateur boxing... Boxing is not easy, it takes a lot
of hard work and motivation and so do A levels, which I am doing now. I think it
has helped me realise what I want to do which is IT and it has helped my confidence.
I doubt I would have been able to do this interview before.”
Shaun also stated
boxing is one of the hardest sports. “You can’t play at it. The training is
really tough. You have to come in twice a week if they are going to compete. After
months of training they get into a boxing ring for the first time in front of a
minimum of 300 people. You have got another guy who you don’t know and he is
going to try and hit you, it is such a daunting thing... box three rounds
and hit and punch and at the end shake hands and clench each other and have
respect for each other for just getting into that ring”
We have had two lads get
to national finals and two get in to semi finals which is not bad for a sleepy
old market town in North Dorset. We are against people from Manchester and
London and Liverpool.
We have a hard-working committee who raises the £14,000 a-year running costs and a welfare officer to ensure a safe environment for the youngsters, a secretary, myself and four
coaches. We are all volunteers no one takes a penny. I put in 20-25 hours a week, run my own business
and have a family. We are a close-knit group and people look out for each other.”
If you would like to
find our more about the club contact
http://www.sturabc.co.uk
