Esker supporting ‘Shamrock to Olive Tree Boxing Project’
Ed Griffin, Tadgh McKenna, Ciarán McKenna & Eoghan McKenna at the launch of the ‘Sham-rock to Olive Tree Boxing Project’ in Esker BC

Esker supporting ‘Shamrock to Olive Tree Boxing Project’

THREE members of Esker Boxing Club, Shane O’Neill, Sean Kelly and Evan Fitzgerald will be part of an Irish team that will travel to Palestine in August as part of the ‘Shamrock to Olive Tree Boxing Project’.

Aimed at establishing a closer relationship between boxing clubs in Ireland and Palestine in an effort to foster the growth and development of the sport, the initiative will see Esker boxers joining members of St Paul’s in Belfast and Saviours Crystal in Waterford on the trip to partner club El Barrio in Ramallah.

Esker’s Ed Griffin will also be travelling in the capacity of coach, referee and judge to help play his part in upskilling and teaching members of the local boxing fraternity there by way of workshops and seminars.

Esker BC, last week, played host to the official launch of this non-political cultural exchange, with a live link-up to El Barrio organised on the night.

“Andrew Phelan, a PE teacher in the local CBS Lucan, asked me a few months back if we would get involved with this project” Griffin told The Echo.

“Given that we are situated at around the midway point between Belfast and Waterford, we offered to host the launch and it went very well.

“We have three boxers on the team that will be heading over. It’s never been done before and we like to do innovative things like this. There’s huge interest in it right now.

“We’re looking to raise funds for equipment for these clubs and we just want to help grow the sport with training and advice for coaches and those involved with the clubs there” he explained.

As part of the project, a number of Palestinian boxers are due to travel to Belfast in 2023.

“It’s great for these boxers to get this experience” insisted Griffin. “I was saying that some of our own boxers may never get the opportunity to travel to places like this, so it’s great.”

Light welterweight, Evan Fitzgerald reached the National Elite semi-finals while light middleweight, Shane O’Neill has carded several county titles and 92+kg boxer Sean Kelly is making a return to the sport after some time out.

TAGS
Share This