Telford golden girls round off a special year in fine style

Kayleigh Verity and Mary-Kate Smith represented the Madeley-based club for the first time at the England Boxing Women’s Winter Box Cup in December and came away with gold medals in the 70kg and 75kg categories respectively.

A month earlier, Smith had also become the Midlands and National champion when she stopped her opponent in the first 31 seconds of the final.

Coach Lindsey Jarratt said: "We are extremely proud of their achievement, they both fully deserve it as they dedicate so much of their time to the sport.

"We are thrilled as this is the first time we have entered this tournament. There are hundreds of women that enter from across the country, Ireland and Europe.

"Coaching is so rewarding! Seeing people evolve, develop, learn and achieve is absolutely amazing. One of the best things is knowing you’ve genuinely helped and had a positive impact on their life. Mary-Kate is a huge prospect, her plan is to go pro eventually.

"We wanted to enter them both in the Golden Girl tournament in Sweden at the beginning of February but to take the boxers and coaches required it is going to cost almost £1,500.

"We have our next home show on February 19 at The Anstice in Madeley but the plan is to enter them both in as many tournaments and competitions as possible alongside regular amateur bouts."

This recent success rounded off the club's 50th anniversary as they continue to go from strength to strength.

The boxing club runs solely on the session money that the boxers pay twice a week and all the coaches volunteer their time to this community resource.

Jarratt added: "Myself and coach Simon Higgins have worked incredibly hard to get the club to where it is today.

"We help so many individuals through boxing. The club provides a safe environment for everyone.

"Boxing is so good for the mind, body and soul. We help lots of children with mental health problems, those experiencing antisocial behaviour, even down to helping the children and young adults with no confidence. We are currently looking at ways to improve the club so we can help even more people.

"Without the session money we wouldn’t be able to stay open. As we rely solely on this money we have to budget to be able to go to competitions, organise home shows, buy equipment for the club as well as the general upkeep and maintenance of the building."