The first week of June was spent making final preparations for the team’s departure from Australia until after the Olympic Games and saying farewell to our wonderful hosts at the Broadbeach PCYC and Griffiths University Gold Coast campus. The accommodation and facilities available on the Gold Coast has proven to be a great success and an ideal location for preparing our athletes for major competition and future benchmark events. After receiving the second vaccine dose at the end of May the team were ready to travel first of all to Colorado Springs, USA to attend a multi-nations training camp that included athletes from Jordan, Philippines and a full compliment of current national champions from the host country. A short quarantine period that included multiple covid tests helped the team acclimatise to the rarefied air at such a high altitude and our athletes were able to train together in a makeshift gym at the hotel as well as an outdoor running trail along the banks of Fountain Creek. Once the teams began the joint training sessions there was an intense programme of physical conditioning, partner work and high quality rounds of both conditioned and open sparring. As the camp progressed a programme of competition sparring was introduced on alternate days between the participants that continued up to the day before departure to Tokyo.

Whilst in America the team heard the sad news of Justis Huni’s injury problems, picked up over the course of his two most recent professional fights, that resulted in him withdrawing from the Tokyo Games. Justis’ coach Mark Wilson will still be attending the games as the assistant coach though and Paulo Aokuso will hopefully also join up with the team following his training stint in Sydney.

The next stage of our Olympic preparation will take place in the Miyazaki prefecture in Japan where the team will meet up with boxers from Germany, Holland, Ireland and host nation Japan as well as the USA team to finish off what has been a long and well planned out training cycle.

The National Futures Program stayed busy in the month of June with six State Futures camps across Australia.

• NSW Futures camp –Sun 13 June 2021
• QLD Futures camp – Sat 5 June 2021
• WA Futures camp – Sun 27 June 2021
• WA Futures camp – Sat 5 June 2021 and Sun 6 June 2021
• SA Futures Camp - Sun 19 June 2021
• Alice Springs Camp - Sat 26 June 2021 and Sun 27 June 2021

The National Performance Pathway Lead, Jamie Pittman, visited Alice Springs for gym visits and a 2-day open camp at the end of June. It was an amazing two days, with over thirty athletes and coaches attending three boxing sessions and a coach and athlete presentation on the Saturday and two boxing sessions on the Sunday.

A massive thank you to all State Futures coaches for their well-planned camps, athlete home coaches for their attendance and input to the camps, the amazing special guest presenters Joel Camilleri, Mercedes Taafee-Cooper, and those athletes who attended the National Futures camp at the AIS in May.

Futures camps coming up in July:

• NSW Futures camp – Sat 10 July and Sun 11 July 2021
• QLD Futures camp – Sat 17 July 2021
• WA Futures camp – Sun 11 July 2021
• VIC Futures camp – Sat 10 July 2021
• ACT Futures camp - Sat 3 July 2021
• TAS Open Futures Camp - Sat 10 July 2021

*The forthcoming National Futures camp on 3-7 July 2021 has been cancelled due to the current covid outbreaks around the country.

BACT have three forthcoming events:

• Level 1 Coaching Course – Sat 17 2021 and Sun 18 July 2021
• 8 Week Female Introduction to Boxing Program – Sat 17 2021 until Sat 4 Sept 2021
• ACT Development Camp – Sat 17 July 2021

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