The Sooke Boxing Club had a successful weekend at provincials recently.
Five fighters from the club travelled to Vancouver, but only three were able to find matches: Jill Doucet, Eric Woodruff, and Quinn MacDonald.
Doucet won her fight against a girl from Nanaimo. The girl was slightly above Doucet’s weight class though, so the fight was an exhibition.
Woodruff had two fights, both exhibition with Funbox rules, which means both fighters win, but coach Ellen Connor said Woodruff competed well.
MacDonald also had two fights: one exhibition with Funbox rules, and the second was a real fight, which he lost.
Connor said overall the weekend was great, and it was goof experience for Woodruff and MacDonald to be able to get in the ring twice.
The Sooke Boxing Club won a Club of the Year at the award ceremonies, to recognize its busy year of hosting a Sooke Slam, two training camps, and having one of its members compete at provincials and nationals. Doucet also won the Female Boxer of the Year award for the second year in a row.
Connor said she was proud that the club won the award, and that everything the club has accomplished has been a collective effort. Her goal is to keep growing the club, and getting more people involved in boxing.
“I want to keep empowering people, especially our youth, in this community,” said Connor. “Boxing is under-valued, under-estimated, and I just want to expose more people to it because it truly is such an empowering sport.”