START BOX

The Start Box Programme is a new initiative from the IABA, Dublin City Council and the Irish Sports Council aimed at promoting a fun, non contact introduction to boxing. 1992 Olympic Champion Michael Carruth and his fellow Boxing Community Development Officers overseeing the rollout of the programme which is aimed at people aged from 10-21 years commencing in June 2010.

It is our aim to promote boxing and community activity, to encourage participation, to promote the values of sport and boxing in particular. We hope to identify and assist local community initiatives which may benefit the development of individuals, the local community and boxing. We recognise the physical, emotional, psychological and social attributes of boxing and believe that our sport is particularly well positioned to attract people whom other mainstream team based sports may be missing.

Boxing can provide participants with the chance to learn new skills, gain in self-confidence and improve their fitness levels. As an individual pursuit boxing actually encourages collaboration with others. We hope to promote boxing as a sport capable of attracting a diverse range of people and encouraging community cohesion. We would also like to promote boxing as an after-schools activity, collaborate with schools and help them provide a more balanced sporting programme as outlined by the Department of Education and Science.

With this in mind, we have developed a fun based, non-contact introductory boxing programme which is specifically aimed at encouraging those who may have little or no experience in boxing. Bearing in mind the current economic climate, keeping costs to a minimum was central to the design of this programme which we hope will encourage our target groups to engage in our new initiative.

We would welcome collaborations with any local groups who may recognise the value in engaging in our programme. Our target group ranges from 10-21 year olds (male and female) though we would welcome and encourage participation from anyone who may wish to involve themselves in the administration of this initiative.