February 9 2010

CABC’s first female Coach by Carl Barton

It was December 08 and things looked bleak for Zena. She had broken a toe in Kick-Boxing training and was forced to rest from activity whilst it healed. Come January 09 she was trying to get back into her beloved training but was struggling. The toe was still a hindrance and training was far from going smoothly. As CABC coach, I asked if she would like to come over to boxing sessions. If only temporarily, she would be able to train back to full fitness whilst not risking aggravating the toe! Zena, having always been a fan and follower of boxing, jumped at the opportunity.

“I started in Jan 09 and haven’t looked back since” she said recently. She was soon excited by the whole ethos of the club and enjoyed pushing herself to the limit in every session. She also started to become something of a mentor to the younger girls in the club. Knowing she was too old to compete, it was Zena’s intention to progress as much as possible and help the other girls through to competition by sparring and encouraging them as much as possible.

Autumn 09 and disaster struck. What seemed to be an innocuous pulled back muscle rapidly became a crippling problem that prevented any training. Undergoing tests and treatment, Zena was unable to stay away from the gym sessions. It was at this time that I spoke to her about coaching. I’d always thought how she had the potential to move into coaching, so I thought why not just bring that forward? She started shadowing the coaches in sessions and as I suspected soon seemed in her element. Her bright personality lends itself to motivating those around her and she has a good grasp of the technical side of the game.

Whilst awaiting a coaching course in Eastern Counties, I had a chance encounter with head of the Police Boxing Association Barry Jones. He kindly gave us a place on the January 09 course scheduled for the Police College at Hendon. So fresh from visiting her parents in Australia, Zena went for the first weekend of the course. Two weekends later with some practise in between and Zena blazed through her assessment with flying colours. She qualified with such attainment that the Course Tutor and Assessor have both recommended her for fast tracking to the next course, something that’s very hard to achieve and something we are all proud of. So it was she became the first ever female coach at Colchester ABC and one of the few ever in Eastern Counties.

As a female friendly club, it’s perhaps fitting that we should have a female coach and mentor. It’s always inspirational when a new coach comes in and the whole club is buzzing at the moment. Sessions are busy and to facilitate this, plans are underway to maximise the coaches’ time by restructuring the sessions entirely. It’s exciting times at Colchester ABC and we all hope Zena will be part of it long into the future.

By Carl Barton