Golden Girl European Boxing Championships
‘My Boxing Experience’
17th January 2014
Dear Diary,
Last Sunday I had come home from training to get some wonderful news. I had found out that my mother and sister and I were going to travel to Sweden. To be honest, it was quite surprising. We were going to travel over for a boxing tournament called ‘The Golden Girl Championships’. It was an amazing journey and we stayed in a beautiful hotel in Borås, Sweden. One hundred and fifty eight girls weighed in for the championship. Only three Irish girls entered the championship. After the weigh in, we went for a lovely Swedish breakfast. We had to wait around the sports arena for the draw to be done to see if my sister, team mate or I have been matched to fight. When the draw was completed, there was no body in my weight or age so they matched me up with a girl not much lighter than me but she was a year older than me. I was happy that I got a fight but I was a little bit worried as the girl I was fighting because I was fighting this girl in her home town and I didn’t know if that would affect the decision.
The day of the fight came. I trained intensely before my fight and listened to music to get prepped for the big final. I had never seen this opponent before, so I was nervous to see if she was taller, smaller, lighter or weighed in a heavier weight. Everything makes a difference in a fight.
The time came to finally step into the ring. I glanced at my opponent who stood opposite me in the red corner. To add to my nervousness, I could see she was very tall. In fact she was taller than Shannon, my fifteen year old sister! But that wasn’t going to stop me. With the help of my coach and the encouraging words of my sister, Shannon, I focused on positive thoughts. All of a sudden, I heard a bell ring and a foreign voice yell ‘round one’. My mam always says ‘use your nerves in the ring as strength. Everyone gets nervous. If you’re not nervous, something is wrong.’ I went into the middle of the ring, hoping to land the first punch of the fight. She was a very good opponent, but in the end, my technical combination of boxing won me all three rounds.
When the fight was over, I said thank you to my opponent, to her coaches, to the referee and to the judges of my fight. Even though I knew I had controlled a large amount of the fight, it is still hard to know if you have won until your hand is raised. When my hand was raised and I heard ‘Sarah Edge, blue corner’, I felt a rush of excitement with in me, and I ran over to the corner of the ring where my sister was waiting for me to give me a hug.
It was an amazing experience. I won gold for Ireland and I am very proud of myself. Hopefully I can do the same next year!
Sarah Edge, 1S Holy Family Secondary School
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I am currently All Ireland Champion in my weight/age category. I have been Leinster Champion the past four years and also Kildare Champion. I recently was awarded Silver for Ireland in the highly anticipated ‘Golden Girl’ Championships in Sweden.
I have been boxing since I was eight years old. I fought my first win or lose competition in 2010 and I have had 40-50 more fights since and have only lost three altogether. I train with the Ryston Boxing Club in Newbridge.
I have been in many newspapers and have been on RTE News for my boxing achievements.
Sweden: January 2014
The Golden Girl championship was held in Borås, Sweden. In this championship, the category in which I boxed in was ‘Junior A -63kg’. I fought my semi-final on Saturday the 11th of January. I faced a real brawler from Germay called Lucia Dittman. I was very nervous stepping into the ring. I always am. My mother always says to my sister and I before every fight, ‘use your nerves in the ring as strength. Everyone gets nervous. If you’re not nervous, something is wrong.’
I had to dig deep as my opponent tried to stay close and land heavy shots inside. However, I was able to make space to let my shots off and eventually, in a great show of strength, drove Dittman back. At the final bell, I got the nod on a scoreline of 3-0, winning all three rounds of the fight with a large margin. I faced another tough German opponent, Stephanie Thour in the final on Sunday the 12th. Thour proved a much more classy opponent however, hard to hit and with very fast hands. At various times throughout the bout I enjoyed great success going forward – but unfortunately over the course of the three rounds I narrowly missed out to make it count. The final decision went the way of the German boxer, but I am very proud to have put on such a courageous display and bring home silver for Ireland.
The Golden Girl Boxing Championships 2014 is the biggest all female competition of its kind in Europe and has been a fabulous opportunity and a great experience my sister and I. Hopefully next year I can bring home the gold!
Shannon Edge, 3M Holy Family Secondary School
Shannon Edge (blue) against Stephanie Thour(red) in Golden Girl Championships.
Shannon Edge (blue) against Ciara Ginty , world champion(red)
Sarah Edge (red)
