By RON LANE
FOR the proprietor and coach of the Impact Boxing Academy at Cooroy, Mark Evans, the first amateur boxing tournament of the year held at the Beenleigh Tavern was just the start of things to come.
“With 47 bouts, it is indeed promising for the year ahead. For our first tournament it was well attended and this was indeed very encouraging,’’ Mark said.
However, starting the year with a successful program was just the beginning. For not only has Mark been appointed President of Boxing Queensland, but has also been named as Queensland Talent Identification Coach by Boxing Australia. After ten years in the sport, it is indeed positions well earned.
“It is a great honour to be appointed to these positions. Amateur boxing in Queensland is definitely starting to grow. We now have an increase of 20 new clubs with some 1000 athletes now involved in the sport; add to this we are slowly building a support group of great people,” Mark said.
Regarding these appointments, fellow boxing coach Israel Kani of the Noosa Box Office Strength and Fitness Gym said: “This is awesome news. Mark will do a great job, he is very passionate about things and this is good for boxing. We wish him well.”
To ensure that the sport has goals that are attractive to the young, Mark and his people are discussing potential projects such as creating more development programs and more training camps, thus creating a pathway for the athletes to follow. Regarding tournaments, many are aiming to be part of the North Queensland Games in June, and following this Coral Sea Games in Cairns. These would involve all Oceanic countries.
With these concepts on the drawing board the importance of sponsorship cannot be emphasised enough. The opportunities for the club’s young boxers are indeed a reality. In three weeks’ time, Mark Evans, with fighters Sam Cameron-Hands and Bailey Seabourne, will fly to Anapa in Russia to take part in a big international invitation tournament; just one example of what can be achieved through the sport of amateur boxing.
As preparation for their trip to Russia, Cameron-Hands and Seabourne used the Beenleigh tournament as warm-up fights with both lads recording good wins. Good luck to all.
