Sport

Jordanstown fancied for High Performance base

ULSTER boxers could soon have a place to call their own as plans to establish a branch of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association's (IABA) High Performance unit within the province gather pace.

Following a meeting of the Ulster Boxing Council in Strabane on Saturday, club development manager Steven Mills has been charged with helping identify a suitable facility - and the University of Ulster's Jordanstown campus is seen as the perfect location.

The likes of Commonwealth Games gold medallists Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan, as well as a host of other top Ulster fighters, have done strength and conditioning training at the Sport Institute of Northern Ireland (SINI) base at Jordanstown in recent years.

Strength and conditioning coach Ryan Whitley, who left SINI to take up a role with the Cardiff Blues rugby team at the start of the summer, made massive strides in improving the physical conditioning of the Ulster fighters.

The rewards were there for all to see at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as the Northern Ireland boxing team returned with nine medals - two gold, two silver and five bronze.

Out of all the rest of the sports they competed in, Team NI only picked up medals in lawn bowls (men's triples silver and women's doubles bronze), while Lisa Kearney won a judo bronze.

There have already been indications that future Sport NI funding could provide more support for those sports delivering greater success on the international stage, such as boxing.

A High Performance branch at Jordanstown would be seen as a huge step in the right direction.

Any such unit would be headed up by John Conlan, who was recently named by IABA as the new High Performance coach for Ulster.

The St John Bosco man is well aware of the talent at his disposal having worked with Team NI boxers at the Commonwealths.

Ulster Council president Paul McMahon explained that while moving into a permanent home could be "18 months or two years" away, exploratory discussions have already taken place about a move to Jordanstown.

"We want somewhere that is neutral, somewhere where everybody will feel comfortable. When you go to Dublin, you go to the national training centre of the IABA, so it makes sense to have a High Performance centre for Ulster in Jordanstown," said McMahon.

"It all has to follow the same structure [as the High Performance unit in Dublin]. We have engaged with the IABA throughout this and followed their advice.

"But we're not jumping the gun here. There's a lot of work to be done before we get near that stage."

It is understood that talks between Sport NI chief executive and Antoinette McKeown and IABA's CEO Fergal Carruth are due to take place in the coming weeks, and McMahon insists the success of the Jordanstown link-up has already borne fruit.

"Apart from one week in Germany, the Northern Ireland team's 14-week training plan was in Ireland, mostly in Jordanstown, which shows what we have to offer.

"Of the 52 boxing medals that could have been won in Glasgow, 18 of them were won by people who trained in Jordanstown.

"Out of 13 gold medals won in Glasgow, seven were won by people who trained in Jordanstown [two Ireland, two Australia, two Scotland, one New Zealand]. I don't believe that was by coincidence.

"You have world class facilities here in Ireland, and you have world class coaches with the likes of John Conlan, Billy [Walsh], Zaur [Antia] and other club coaches."