The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) came out a winner by majority decision in 2016 after jabbing several obstacles to score victories both inside and outside the ring.
Despite taking a knee and failing to have a representative at the Rio Olympic Games, the GBA was able to outpoint its opponents to complete a successful year.
Fighting against the lack of sponsorship, a formidable and perennial rival, the GBA was still able to stage all of its local and international competitions which were scheduled for the year.
The medal haul of 10 gold and a silver by 11 representatives at the Caribbean Development Boxing Tournament (CDBT) was arguably the crowning achievement of the association.
This was reiterated by president of the association, Steve Ninvalle.
“2016 has been a good year for us, of course we did not qualify for the Olympics but we ended it with a bang by winning the Caribbean Championships, sending 11 boxers and all medalling.”
Inside the ropes
The GBA hosted its flagship National Open Championships along with the, National Novices and National Intermediate tournaments.
The association also hosted the first ever international Schoolboys and Juniors tournament in April.
As has been the case for the last five years, the DDL under-16 tournaments were also successfully held.
Outside the Ring
In 2016, the GBA continued to battle against a low level of support which has left the association in the red but Ninvalle said:“Nevertheless we are still fighting on as an executive.”
The executive was re-elected unopposed for another four-year tenure.
Looking ahead to 2017, Ninvalle said he plans to mirror the successful achievements of this year and then some.
“During the course of 2017 and in the immediate years to follow we plan on making the youth and juniors our priority.
“With this in mind, we will be hosting the second edition of the Schoolboys and Juniors Championship in April.”
The GBA head added:“We will be soliciting support from AIBA which has given us a nod and we will also be hosting the Inter-Guiana tournament for youth boxers to be held in October and we hope to expose our youngsters to the highest form of competition.”
Ninvalle noted that exposing more coaches to three-star certification is also high on the agenda.
“We also hope to expose more of our coaches to the highest level of certification.
We have two three-star coaches and I hope at the end of 2017 we can carry that number up to at least one.”
The new season of activities for the GBA starts on January 3 in Trinidad where a seven-man boxing team is scheduled to represent the Golden Arrowhead at an international fixture.
