Sandhills Boxing Club prepares for next competition
By Joan Janzen
The Sandhills Boxing Club team travelled to Regina on the February 3rd weekend for the Sask. Provincial competition. Willow Blohm and Ryder Bredy have won provincials three years in a row. This year, there was no one in their age category, so they won by a walkover.
L-R: Isabelle Blohm - coach, Chris Girardin (15), Alex Girardin (14), Ryder Bredy (13), Willow Blohm (11), Ken Blohm - head coach.
“But it’s still a victory because they work so hard,” their head coach, Ken Blohm said. Chris Girardin had his first bout and lost, but it was a very good match. “He learned what he needs to do for his next competition and took home a silver,” Ken said. Chris’ brother, Alex, had his second competition and came out with a gold, winning by a walkover.
“There’s few competitors,” Ken said regarding winning by a walkover. “There might be 15 boxing clubs in Saskatchewan.” The closest boxing clubs are located at Regina, Lloydminster and Medicine Hat. “There’s no other clubs for 200 miles. “We’d love to see a lot more clubs open up, creating more competitors and opportunities.”
However Coach Ken and his wife Isabelle are providing an excellent opportunity in Leader, which is why people come to the club from as far as Kindersley and Brock to participate.
“We have 30 members coming to learn boxing skills and get in shape; six of those want to compete,” Ken explained. The club consists of twenty kids and 10-15 adults. “My competitors come in three times a week.”
The club participates in competitions almost every weekend. When they’re not competing, they are back in the club, focusing on specifics. They’re looking forward to attending the Golden Glove Tournament in Calgary at the beginning of March, and there will be more competitions during winter and spring. This year, the club is also looking at going to Quebec.
“It’s a very lonely sport, so it’s good to have kids go as a team and bond. It’s been a really good year,” Ken said. The success of the club is due to the coaching of Ken and his wife Isabelle, along with Sheldon Seiwert. “You need as many coaches as you can with 20 kids in a class,” he said.
For Ken and Isabelle, the Sandhills Boxing Club is a labour of love. “All the coaching we do is volunteer,” he noted. Ken works a seasonal job at the RM, and his wife also works seasonally as an operator of the Lemsford Ferry. “It works well for us. We get to focus on coaching during the winter months and be home for our children,” Ken said.
Not only should the hard work and dedication of the Sandhills Boxing Club be celebrated, but their coaches also deserve a shout-out of appreciation. After all, without them, none of this would be possible.