THE Irish team may be in the final stages of preparation for next month’s European Olympic qualifier - but there will be other interest from these shores once the action gets under way in Poland.
Wexford man Eddie Bolger is currently in the Austrian Alps putting the Germany team through their paces as the days dwindle down towards the start of the European Games, where boxing gets under way on June 26.
Last month Bolger was reunited with some old friends when fellow Rio 2016 coaches Zaur Antia and John Conlan were among the Irish party attending an international training camp at the German Olympic training centre.
Billy Walsh – who left the Irish High Performance before the Rio Games - also brought his American team to Kienbahm and, even six years after leaving the High Performance set-up at home, Bolger insists the Irish model is still the one to which Germany, and many European nations, aspire.
“They’re probably sick of me mentioning that over here,” he smiles.
“Ireland would be more familiar than the USA to the German athletes, just because of the European connection. They’re greatly admired, the Irish team.
“It’s a proven programme, it’s consistent, they have a team of fantastic coaches. The lads know their job, each knows their role, they’re committed. It’s a consistent, recurring block – four days, four days, and the content is top drawer.
“I often travel back over, bring young boxers coming in my system over to Ireland and immerse them in the line-up over there, let them experience it. I upskill again too… the Irish system is second to none, in my opinion, and that’s down to the men leading it and the work they do every week.
“The girls’ team is 10 years in the making, the new men’s team, their first real outing was Serbia. My team is similar, so I’m trying to keep on a par with them looking forward.”
Each Olympic cycle, and the sense of starting from something approaching scratch, presents its own challenges
But, after a Covid-disrupted qualification campaign ahead of Tokyo 2020, plans are already afoot for an upsurge in Germany country’s fortunes at Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 – provided boxing is reinstated to the Olympic programme.
“We actually got stuck in the very same hotel we’re in now for an extended period around the time Covid broke,” he says.
“We’ve been through a fairly heavy period in terms of training, so we’re feeling the pace a bit, that’s why we’re in the Alps doing recovery because there’s no better place really.
“We’ve used it a few times and benefitted from it, especially in the last European Games when we got three medals. Then we qualified three for Tokyo, had hoped for more but Covid had a say in that too.
“It’s very hard to change the system over here, you really have to live in it and adapt it, try and find the positives and make subtle changes. It’s a big system, over 85 athletes being looked after on funding, coaches are basically in lifetime positions…
“You compromise with large numbers here, and the bar is never high enough then. That was the most difficult thing to overcome, but I co-operate with individuals, bring them into the elite team, bring the coaches into the elite team. I’ve gathered a good squad around me, which we use regularly.
“We’ve taken an elite team out of the centralised system and we work together in block training, we’re together all year round with more or less the same coaching team. It’s very similar to the Ireland, GB and USA systems now.
“It has showed big benefits so far but, it’s like anything, it depends how you want to measure it. We’ve had a world champion and two European champions in the last couple of years, which is a change for the better.
“But the most rewarding thing, at the last European Championships we had six fighting for medals. We got two, lost a couple of 3-2 decisions, so if we can change that and play the percentage game a bit better, we’re moving in the right direction.
“In previous years, we were just training to compete - hopefully now we’re competing to win.”
The experienced Nadine Apetz retired after Tokyo, while featherweight Hamsat Shadolov – conqueror of Kurt Walker at the 2020 Olympic qualifier – and heavyweight Ammar Abduljabbar have since turned pro.
In super-heavy Nelbvie Tiafack, though, they have a serious talent on their hands, the towering 24-year-old claiming gold at last year’s European Championships in Yerevan, while light-middle Magomed Schachidov finished up with bronze.
At the women’s Europeans, Stefanie von Berge marked herself out as one to watch when topping the podium in the 66 kilo division – though she could have Amy Broadhurst, World and European champion at 63kg, for company in Poland next month.
Like Ireland and a host of other nations, Germany has chosen to boycott International Boxing Association events this year, including this month’s World Championships, with teams instead sent to multi-nations events across Europe, including this weekend’s Eindhoven Cup.
“Matters are very delicate at the moment,” said Bolger, “so I don’t want to make any comment other than we support Olympic boxing.”
However, the German head coach is happy with how things have been going heading towards the Olympic qualifier.
“I can’t fault the preparation - there’ll be no excuses at the end of it, but again, it’s going to be very tough. Europe is always tough, and most of the people I would be hoping could get us over the line have to get to the final.
“We’ve developed a good team but we need a bit of luck also.”
As for his own future, Bolger has improved and developed in the German system. Ireland, though, “is always in the heart”.
“I’ve learned how to get the best out of people, how to manage people, how to support and engage with people.
“That wasn’t really my brief in Ireland, where here I had 15, 16 coaches to deal with, a different language, different system, different beliefs, not much accountability around performance… it was very difficult, and I relied on a lot of people in Ireland to help me and keep me going.
“Wexford is still where I plan to move back to. I would like to see myself back in Ireland at some time, I left on good terms, I can’t thank the High Performance enough for how well they treated me, it was more that this was a good opportunity when it arose.
“I love the people here, the people I work with, the job… Los Angeles wouldn’t be bad. The fruits of what we’ve done, the changes made recently, you’re going to see that in LA.
“I’ve had a good education over here, but Ireland is always in the heart.”
