Impact Boxing and Fitness Academy Cooroy, owned and operated by head coach Mark Evans, hosted the very first Sunshine Coast Regional Boxing Championships on Saturday 25 March.
Held in the stadium at the Noosa District High School Cooroy, the tournament was very successful with boxing teams coming from Brisbane, Gold Coast and North Queensland.
The response was outstanding with some 200 nominations, 10 of which came from the local Impact Club. From this number they matched some 66 bouts. Needless to say, the stadium was a full house.
Originally known as the Young Guns, it is now in its 12th year.
“My partner Kylie and I came up with the ideal of bringing a boxing championship to the Sunshine Coast, thus introducing a new concept to our community.
“Happy to say we have had great support from local businesses, all keen to get behind this great new idea.
“I definitely think this will be the beginning of something big for our boxing community. The response had been above all expectations.”
The year 2023 certainly started with a bang for Boxing Queensland, of which Mark Evans is president and the Boxing Australia’s Queensland Futures coach.
As such Evans has run a development camp in Cairns, a similar two- day camp in Brisbane and, following this while in Darwin, with a team ran yet another development camp.
Add to this, the boxing season started with the recent Boxing Queensland Novice Titles held in Brisbane.
This tournament attracted a large number of nominations. This resulted in 120 bouts being contested over three days. Our local team performed well bringing home three gold and one silver medal.
This tournament is great for our novice boxers (15 bouts and under). It was a great opportunity for four of our debutant boxers who all boxed well above their experience level. One of our standouts was 10-year-old Isaiah Martin who was having his first bout, weighing in at a massive 28kg.
Isaiah has boxing in his blood. Being the son of Luke Martin, who fights out of the Impact stable, he has been following his dad into the gym since he could walk so the progression into the ring seemed inevitable. It is not known how many 28kg boxers are out there, so opponents may be scarce, however, we wish him well.
“For the first championship tournament of this kind to be run in Cooroy,” said Evans, “we are indeed very happy with the overall result. A big thank you to our supporters, sponsors and above all the Noosa District High School for your ongoing support.”
Outrigger Club
This week members of the Outriggers Club gathered to pay their respect to a highly regarded member of the paddling community who recently passed away, a man in the community who obviously held their respect.
Danny Topfer, affectionately known in the paddling community as Toppy, was full of enthusiasm and energy.
His outgoing personality was responsible for pulling in many new members to the sport, and in doing so created many numerous exciting events.
Toppy will be missed by all.
In keeping with the traditions of the sea, members paddled out and formed a circle to honour and say goodbye to their comrade, gone but not forgotten. Vaya Con Dios, Toppy, Vaya Con Dios.
