Hello Everyone
As we work our way into the summer season, I’d like to thank all athletes, officials, coaches, parents, fans, and supporters for their dedication & commitment to our great sport over the past 12 months. There was a day when boxing would slow down in the summer months, but that is no longer the case.
It has been an exciting time with many changes at the provincial, national, and world level. I love being a part of this journey. I’ve really enjoyed being your president over the past year, and I’m looking forward to leading our organization into the future.
Recreational Members
Simply put, the future of our organization will be greatly affected by the number or recreational members that we have on our books. Whether this is positive or negative depends on our efforts.
When we (or Boxing Canada) apply for grants, sponsorships, or other funding opportunities, our numbers are looked at. We’ve demonstrated excellent growth and performance over the past few years, but still have some work to do in the area of our recreational numbers.
Across the country, we have the 2nd highest number of total registrants, but when it comes to recreational members we are at the bottom. This has been noted not only by Boxing Canada, but also potential funding providers at the national level.
A recreational membership in our organization is only $20, and the member gets top-notch insurance coverage while training (non-contact), a free Boxing Ontario T-Shirt, and the opportunity to say that they’re a member of the best Provincial Boxing Organization in Canada.
Many clubs may not realize this, but your club registration for 2014 included 3 FREE recreational memberships. All you have to do is fill out the forms and send them in to the office.
Some of our clubs take full advantage of the benefits of the recreational memberships, while others do not. If each club were to register the 3 FREE recreational members, we would definitely be heading in the right direction.
So if you’re a club coach or owner, please, at the minimum, submit 3 names for your FREE memberships.
If you are a member of a club for fitness purposes, please speak with the club owner about becoming a recreational member of Boxing Ontario.
If you are a parent, family member, or friend of a Boxing Ontario member and would like to become part of the organization, please consider becoming a recreational member of our great organization.
As previously announced, clubs will receive cash prizes based upon the number of registered members they have. Further to that, higher numbers will also help us win a substantial cash prize in the Boxing Canada membership contest.
If you’ve got any ideas on how to increase our recreational numbers, please let me know.
Annual General Meeting
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Professional Development & AGM weekend. We had a number of great educational sessions on Saturday afternoon & awards dinner on Saturday evening, topped with our Annual General Meeting on the Sunday.
Your leadership team is as follows:
- President – Mike Power
- VP Technical – Alison Hunter
- VP Competition – Ibrahim Kamal
- VP Admin – Deb Laba
- VP Protocol – Shawn Floyd
- Past President – Ron Gallen
- Treasurer – Ardem Tutinjian
- Provincial Official – Keri Ireland
- Provincial Coach – Steve Bailey
- Athlete’s Rep – Mary Spencer
- Marketing Rep – Open
Thanks to Rob Bender, Bob Wilcox, & Josh O’Reilly for the dedication over the past year.
2014 Canadian Golden Gloves
The 2014 Golden Gloves will be taking place July 8-13 in Cornwall. This is a great developmental opportunity for our Junior & Youth athletes to get some bouts during the summer season. For our Senior Athletes, this is their final chance to qualify for the National Championships.
Registration is just $20 and the deadline is June 30th.
We are very fortunate to have a tournament like this in our province, and I strongly recommend that all clubs attend.
Pro Coaches Working Amateur Corners
Previously it was reported that professional coaches wouldn’t be allowed to work amateur corners at nationals, but that has changed.
Going forward, coaches who work with professional boxers may work corners up to and including the national level.
To work at AIBA Sanctioned events, coaches will need to be in compliance with the AIBA requirements.
Provincial Champs
We held the 2014 Provincials at the Mississauga Hershey Center under our new format and we had some great bouts. This tournament featured the top 4 boxers in each weight class and was very well received by all those involved.
The new format ensured us that we are sending the right athletes to represent us at nationals in October.
Please see your Senior Provincial Team below:
Female Sr Open
- 48 kg Taveena Kum
- 51 kg Sierra Picton
- 54 kg Erica Adjei
- 57 kg Cher Obedia
- 60 kg Natasha Szlapetis
- 64 kg Kaitlyn Clark
- 69 kg Jessica Camara
- 75 kg Mary Spencer
- 81 kg Alison Greey
- 81+ kg Jocelyn Guenette
Male Sr Open
- 49 kg PG Tondo
- 52 kg Evan Gillard
- 56 kg Bradley Wilcox
- 60 kg Lucas Bahdi
- 64 kg Arthur Biyarslanov
- 69 kg Josh Cameron
- 75 kg Marco Capobianco
- 81 kg Brock Stumpf
- 91 kg Dan Doyle
- 91+ kg Aaron Huggins
Ontario Winter Games
I am happy to say that we were invited back to the OWG for 2014 and it looks like we’ll be part of the games going forward. There’s a chance that boxing will be moving to the summer games, and I think that will serve us well.
This year the OWG doubled as the provincials for the Junior/Youth age divisions and it will also be tied to Quest For Gold scoring criteria. Please see below for our list of OWG Gold Medalists who will be advancing to nationals in Quebec City:
Youth (Male)
- 49 kg Owen Charles
- 52 kg Steven Ryan
- 56 kg CJ Marston
- 60 kg Terrell Piper
- 64 kg Tanvir Kahlon
- 75 kg Ethan Prince
Youth (female)
- 52 kg Chelsea Charles
- 64 kg Shayneisha Kelly
Jr C (Male)
- 42 kg Gerard Ryan
- 44 kg Calum Bowie
- 48 kg Spencer Wilcox
- 50 kg Tevin Piper
- 60 kg Hunter Lee
- 66 kg Jordan Adamson
Jr C (female)
- 52 kg Deneige Chaffey
Competitions
Toronto Super Show
Ontario VS Nova Scotia – Team Nova Scotia was in attendance for some friendly competition. They provided some tough competition for us on the first day, but we were able to even the score on Day 2.
Ontario VS Quebec
In another dual match, we have invited team Quebec in for a friendly developmental competition. The first bout will be on June 28th at the Chin Picnic, and the following day will be at HUF gym in Mississauga. If you’re able, please come out and support your team.
Canadian Golden Gloves
The 2014 Canadian Golden Gloves will be held on July 8th to 13th in Cornwall, Ontario. See the details above.
United Promotions
We are planning to be a part of the September 6th United Promotions Show at the Hershey Centre. Stay tuned for more info on this exciting venture.
2015 Elite Nationals
We will be hosting Elite Nationals October 27 – November 1 at the Delta Meadowvale in Mississauga. This is a great opportunity for our teams as we will be able to compete in this Pan-Am eliminator on home turf, in front of family & friends, without incurring large travel costs.
We’re planning a Pan-Am theme for this event and have partnered with a marketing firm to make this a very memorable week.
Ontario Bronze Gloves
We will be holding our Bronze Gloves tournament from November 28th – 30th at the Delta Meadowvale in Mississauga. Keep an eye on our website and social media for more info.
This will be the tournament where our Jr/Youth athletes compete for 2nd seed to go to nationals.
This will also be open to all other categories except for Senior Male Open.
Junior/Youth Nationals
Will be held Jan 20-24, 2015 in Quebec City.
Brampton Cup
To Be Announced
Athlete Development
It is recognized at the national level that we have work to do in the areas of Female Development and Junior/Youth Development.
I am currently a member of a national committee focussing on Junior/Youth development. We have had our terms of reference approved and will be working towards a developmental plan for Junior & Youth boxers. This will include developmental training camps and competitions both domestically and internationally. Willie McNeil from the Boxing Canada executive is chairing this committee.
A similar committee is in place for Female development. This committee is chaired by Boxing Canada executive member Val Ryan, and we have Jill Perry on the committee as well. Jill will be leading our female teams this year so this will be to our benefit.
Boxing Canada High Performance Director Daniel Trepanier will be travelling across Canada conducting Talent Identification camps. The first one is in Halifax, NS in August. We plan to have Daniel attend one or more of our camps as well.
Boxing Canada Rule Book
The new rulebook will be available online any day now. I don’t anticipate any huge changes, but it will be streamlined to align with AIBA rules and eliminate duplication.
The recently adopted Masters rules will be in this version. We managed to have the age difference for boxers above and below 40 changed to a 10 year maximum. This will give more flexibility for boxers over 40, without diminishing their safety.
Bill S-209
For anyone who isn’t aware, Bill S-209 was passed last fall in the House of Commons. This bill changed the definition of “Prize Fight” in the criminal code. This has the potential to affect our sport and we are currently working with Boxing Canada & our ministry to ensure a favourable outcome for us.
New Staff
In late April we took on two new staff members who joined the three that already work at the main office. Luis Paredes and Jordan Thompson have joined the Boxing Ontario team to assist with all marketing, business development and event efforts.
Luis will be focusing on marketing the organization and our member clubs as well as putting forward any new business opportunities that the organization can establish.
Jordan will be focusing on coordinating events at all levels and helping revitalize the BOX ON program.
Their contributions to the organization have been outstanding thus far and we hope to maintain their services.
We are funding their salaries through initiatives taken as a result of the Summer Student Government Grant.
Quest for Gold
Once again we were able to support the training needs of some of our top athletes through the Quest 4 Gold program. This year’s recipients of a full card received $5000 from the Ontario Government, while half card recipients received $2500.
Please see the list of recipients below:
- Deedra Chestnut
- Caitlin Trenholme
- Erica Adjei
- Lucas Bahdi
- Bradley Bernatchez
- Arthur Biyarslanov
- Joshua Cameron
- Nathaniel Carzeri
- Amanda Galle
- Evan Gillard
- Ali Greey
- Adrian Halford
- Taveena Kum
- Joshuah Lupia
- Zack Ridgewell
- Rodolfo Velasquez
In addition to this, our athletes who are receiving national carding will have their funding topped up through the Quest For Gold Program.
Website Updates
The Boxing Ontario website has gone through another change and this new website has a more youthful and interesting feel to it. We have received a wide range of feedback from our members about the website which gives us the knowledge on what is working well and what area we need to look back on and revise. The website has many different features and some new ones in the works which include:
- Online Tournament Registration & Payment
- A live “Athlete Database” for clubs to perform match making and club shows
- Different informative pieces
- Registrations
- Club Evaluations
- Return to Play
- Sanctioning
- Complaints
Annual Medicals
For anyone who has a new boxing passport, you will notice that it states that the annual medical is valid for only one year. This can be found on the last page, under note 3. This means that it’s only valid for 365 days after it is performed. Boxing Canada medical rules also require that you have a thorough medical performed every 12 months.
Your annual registration is done by calendar year.
So, if a boxer has a medical in June 2013, registers in September 2013, then their registration will be good until Dec 31, 2014, but their medical expires in June 2014. In this case, the boxer won’t be able to spar or compete beyond June 2014, however their registration will be good until the end of the year.
The technical committee is currently looking at this, and we can expect something coming out soon. In a nutshell, prior to every competition, boxers will need to be able to demonstrate that their annual medical is still valid.
I don’t anticipate policing how clubs operate, but if someone is injured in the club, and their medical is expired, the injured person likely wouldn’t be covered by our insurance policy.
Public Sparring:
Please note the following excerpt from the CABA Rulebook regarding Public Sessions:
RULE 5 – REGULATIONS CONCERNING NON -TOURNAMENT BOUTS
5.1 Definition
5.1.1 Non-tournament events are bouts between competitors who are not part of a sanctioned tournament event. These bouts include club shows, invitational events, exhibitions and public sessions.
5.1.2 Exhibitions and public sessions are non-competitive bouts where ringside judges will not be used. All other ringside officials must be in attendance (referee, doctors, timekeeper, etc.).
5.2 Sanctions
5.2.1 Bouts may only be conducted as part of an event sanctioned by the appropriate national, provincial or regional authority.
5.3 Approval
5.3.1 All non-tournament events must adhere to the same regulations concerning age, weight and experience as a regular sanctioned tournament as per 5.1.
5.3.2 Competitors, their coaches/seconds, the official-in-charge of the event and the attending physician must all agree to approve the bout.
We’ve had cases in the past where clubs, with pure intentions, would host fundraisers where sparring is included as part of the entertainment for the day.
Please note that these sessions DO require approval by Boxing Ontario, and as such, a sanction form must be submitted as per normal practice. Unfortunately this will bring an additional cost to the host, but we need to ensure that we are in compliance with Boxing Canada rules at all times.
Membership Incentive Program
For anyone who has registered for 2014, you will have received a Boxing Ontario T-Shirt. I hope that you wear this shirt with pride and encourage others to join our great organization. These T-Shirts are also being provided to recreational members, so if you have a friend, co-worker, family member, etc who is interested in joining, please let them know about this incentive.
Also, cash incentives are being provided to clubs, based on the number of members they have. All clubs will receive a cash payment at the end of August, based upon how many rec members they have. Clubs with the most competitive members will also receive a cash prize.
I expect that we will be continuing this for our 2015 season, however the T-Shirt design will change.
Insurance Coverage
We have a great insurance plan, but like any insurance policy, I hope we never have to make use of it. There seems to be some confusion out there so please be reminded that our coverage is only valid when injuries sustained happen while interacting with other registered Boxing Ontario members.
For example:
- Boxing Ontario member sparring with Boxing Ontario member, supervised by Boxing Ontario coach – covered
- Boxing Ontario member sparring with Boxing Ontario member, unsupervised – no coverage
- Boxing Ontario member sparring with unregistered member – no coverage
- Boxing Ontario member sparring with pro boxer – no coverage
In closing, I’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer season. I look forward to the next year as president of your organization.
As always, if you have concerns of questions, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]
One last thing, don’t forget to get those recreational memberships in!
Yours in Amateur Boxing
Mike Power
President
Boxing Ontario
