Oldest boxing club in N.B. opens doors to all

After almost half a century, New Brunswick's oldest boxing club continues to recruit more athletes. On Saturday, Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club in Saint John held an open house to welcome anyone from the community into the ring. 

Located in the basement of St. John the Baptist-King Edward school, the brick walls of the club are lined with photos of past fighters.

On this occasion, current boxers, coaches and veterans of the club, donned their gloves and showed off their fighting stances for visitors.

"It just opens up the sport to the general public where they may not ever have the opportunity to try it," said coach and club president Joe Blanchard. 

'We have an open door program'

 Over the decades, Blanchard said the gym has been a refuge for at-risk youth, and has offered structure and discipline to kids from troubled backgrounds.

"We have an open door program," Blanchard said. "That means we absolutely will not turn anyone around away from our gym."

At each practice, Blanchard said kids are given two hours to have fun in a family atmosphere. While working up a sweat and practicing their jabs and hooks, he said they're able to get away from the troubles they may be facing on the street.

Golden Gloves making a difference

One of the club's champions, Charlie Cavanagh, still a teen herself, said she's witnessed how Golden Gloves can make a difference in the lives of young people.

"We've had kids come down without shoes and we try to do everything we can for them, considering this is a non-for-profit organization," she said.

Cavanagh recently returned from training in Ireland, and now the 2016 Junior National champion is gearing up for a tournament this fall in Bulgaria.

At the open house, she showed some of her medals to the kids, giving them an idea of what they can strive for.

While the open house is a key part in engaging youth, it's also crucial to growing the sport in the province.

'Last to leave'

Boxing New Brunswick's president Ed Blanchard said the sport in the region is coming off one of its most successful years ever, in terms of membership.

But he said attracting more young people to the sport is still a priority.

"Our sport needs to grow," Blanchard said. "Without new members, we're not going to have competitions."

Joe Blanchard thinks the open house accomplished its goal of getting more people interested in the sport. Before the club even opened its doors, he said some neighbourhood children came searching for details on the event.

"We opened up the doors to them," Blanchard said, "and those young folks were a couple of the last to leave here today."