ARMAGH Boxing Club celebrated a first All-Ireland success last week – and Aoife Dougan’s success story was just reward for the years of hard work done behind the scenes.
Talented light-fly Dougan defeated Holy Trinity’s Alesha Deronja to claim the Irish junior 1 crown at the National Stadium, putting the seal on a month to remember after club stalwart Donald Renaghan was named Sportsperson of the Year at the Armagh I awards.
Having been shown the ropes under the legendary Sean Doran, and boxing to a high standard himself, Renaghan first opened the doors of Armagh BC five years ago – with new Irish champ Dougan just one of hundreds to have gone through his hands in the time between.
“Don started the club with little to no resources; four pairs of boxing gloves, a couple of skipping ropes and buckets of determination,” says Peter Madden, the club’s treasurer.
“He got some space in a local gym in town, and it started from there. Eventually the club moved on to bigger premises in Russell Street and hasn’t looked back since.
“Like myself Don was lucky enough to have been trained by the late, great Sean Doran in Keady. I was unfortunate enough to be the same age and weight as Marty Renaghan, Don’s brother, who boxed at the Commonwealth Games [in 1994], and I knew by the shape of my nose that I wasn’t going to make it!
“But Don always kept the interest up and in tribute to Sean’s memory took it on himself to start a boxing club in Armagh city - Sean’s home town - to give the young people there a chance to gain the skills and confidence Sean so readily and freely gave to us and others.
“In that same vein, Don’s work alongside his outstanding team of coaches has led to so many young people experiencing boxing and all that goes with it - training, commitment, confidence building and so much more - for the very first time.”
The challenges remain plenty, but Armagh BC has triumphed over time, becoming an integral part of a stacked local sporting landscape.
“Where are, it’s a strong GAA area, soccer as well,” said Madden.
“We train every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then most of the tournaments happen at the weekends. It’s hard for children, and parents, to commit because they’re running day and night to different events, but normally if they’re with us for a couple of months or so, there’s a loyalty there.
“And I have to say we have had incredible support along the way too - the local community have been good to us in terms of sponsorship, even unsolicited donations, so we’re lucky that way.”
And when the big wins come, they are worth celebrating.
Fifteen-year-old Dougan has some pedigree too, as mother Charlene Creaney is a former European kickboxing champion. And Madden hopes that having the city’s first female All-Ireland champion at the club can help inspire others.
“I’m duty manager at the Armagh City Hotel, and we had a very hastily-arranged celebration for Aoife when she came back up the road. Seeing Aoife win an Irish title can only inspire the others at the club.
“Yet while success is brilliant, it’s fantastic, the main goal of the club is to create a community base and provide an opportunity for young people in boxing.
“It took us a long time to get really kicked in, people didn’t even know there was an Armagh Boxing Club for a while, and now they are seeing boxing is about so much more than being a tough guy – it’s about commitment, dedication, discipline.
“Those are all things that stand to you in life, and that’s what’s important, because small clubs like ours are the backbone of the sport.”
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FIVE Ulster boxers came back up the road as Irish champions following the National Boy and Girl Junior 2 Championships at the weekend.
Callum McGillin, from the Two Castles club in Newtownstewart, claimed the 80kg crown with a 4-1 split decision victory over Emerald’s Daniel Ramsey, while Ormeau Road’s Anthony Taggart took the 85kg title after a unanimous win over Troy Donnelly (Cherry Orchard).
“That’s Callum’s fourth Irish title, he won three as a schoolboy,” said Two Castles coach John Gallagher.
“Darren Donnelly was the coach down with Callum, he’s working over in Scotland but came for the weekend, so both him and Callum did a great job.”
Holy Trinity’s Logan Rice (42kg), Immaculata’s Karl Reilly (44kg) and Star’s Louis Rooney (46kg) all took walkover wins.
That followed on from the previous weekend’s Junior 1 Irish championship finals, which saw a host of new champions crowned.
Among them was Armagh BC’s Aoife Dougan at 48kg, while Holy Trinity’s Summer Flemming edged a 3-2 split decision against Jamie O’Rourke (St Abban’s) at 50kg.
Oak Leaf’s Adam McIvor proved too strong for Joshua Barrett (Titans) in the 70 kilo decider, with St Paul’s middleweight Dylan McShane impressing en route to a unanimous decision win against Star of the Sea’s John Donaghy.
There were some impressive results among the heavier weight classes too, with the referee stopping the contest in the second round as Seamus Maughan (Cookstown) beat Galway’s Patrick Ward (Galway) in the 85kg final.
Carrickmore’s Caolan McMahon got the nod on a 3-2 split against Tom Mongan (Enniscorthy) at 100kg, before Ledley Hall’s Brandon McKelvie beat Galway’s Charlie McDonagh (Galway) 5-0 in the 118kg decider.
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KELLIE Harrington, Aidan Walsh and Emmet Brennan were honoured by the Olympic Federation of Ireland at the Olympic Ball on Sunday night.
The ball - which took place at Dublin’s Mansion House - recognised the achievements of all Team Ireland athletes at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The black tie event was also a homecoming for Irish athletes who competed at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Beijing 2008 Summer Games silver medallist Kenneth Egan was among those to share his Olympic experiences with those in attendance.
The Permanent TSB ‘Spirit of the Summer Olympics’ writers’ award went to Dublin’s Emmet Brennan for his embodiment of the spirit of the Olympics throughout the Games.
The Permanent TSB ‘Spirit of the Winter Olympics’ award jointly went to Seamus O’Connor (snowboarding) and Brendan Newby (freestyle skiing). Cross-country skier Thomas Maloney Westgaard was awarded the Deloitte Special Recognition award for the Winter Games.
Dr James O’Donovan, Team Ireland Chief Medical Officer at the Tokyo Games, picked up the Deloitte special recognition award for the Summer Games.
The Allianz Rising Star award was bestowed upon swimmer Mona McSharry, who made history in Tokyo when she became the first Irish swimmer in 25 years to compete in an Olympic final.
The final award of the night was the Indeed Award for Excellence, and all Olympic medallists from the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games were recognised – including Tokyo lightweight champion Harrington and Belfast’s bronze medallist Walsh.
