Professional Boxing Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Professional Boxing Association (PBA) was formed in 2007. The organisation formed as a result of a meeting between Alan Irwin (the Chief Executive of the Educational Sports Forum (ESF)), Barry McGuigan (ex World Featherweight Champion[1]) and Micky Cantwell (ex British Flyweight Champion[2]). The original idea of an organisation designed to support the welfare and education of boxers came from Barry McGuigan, and had been an ambition of his since the 1980's.
Despite McGuigan's personal success in the world of boxing, he had seen numerous individuals devote their life to the sport, compromising their education and training in other skills, in the hope that they would reach professional status. What frustrated McGuigan was the fact that not everyone could become a champion, and that their dedication to boxing may well have served them negatively, if they had not supplemented their physical training with personal development and education[3].
The PBA was set up not only to spread this message, but also to offer professional support and counselling, allowing members to learn and participate in courses often subsidised or even free of charge[4]. This has been achieved because of the PBA's affiliation with the ESF[5], which is has links to the European Economic Community (EEC) through the Union Learning Fund (ULF). It is able to do this due to the support of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU). The GFTU offers its members an extensive range of counselling and training courses[6], all of which can now be enjoyed by members of the PBA.
Contents |
[edit] The Structure of the PBA
Barry McGuigan - Chairman
Micky Cantwell - Chief Executive
Alan Irwin - Director of Training & Education
Sammy Cantwell - Project Worker
Kris Irwin - Project Worker
[edit] The Mission of the PBA
The Professional Boxing Association (PBA) will operate to advance education and training to support boxers through the lifecycle of their career and beyond into employment. To engage with boxers to up-skill them in the core areas of employability to ensure they have the necessary skills essential to personal development and sustainability. The aims and objectives of the PBA will be to promote the sport of Boxing at every level and to provide all its services in a way that is fair and equitable to everyone. To promote and provide education, training, information, advice and guidance to support boxer's personal development and to support community initiatives that reflects the social responsibility of the PBA. The main focus is the development of an education programme that reflects the needs of boxers in preparation for a life outside of the ring, for example, numeracy, literacy and IT skills in learning centres located in selected gyms throughout the UK. We have been able to develop excellent relations with interested employers to create employment opportunities for boxers which will provide them and their families with financial support to sustain a viable future outside of their chosen sport. The PBA also supports community initiatives that reflect our social responsibility. Our key objectives are:
- Building capacity within the Professional Boxing Association
- Working with designated boxing gyms to agree partnership approaches to learning and skills
- Piloting early training initiatives in designated gyms
- Development systems to support the training and development of specific Boxer Learner Reps in designated gyms.[7]
[edit] Progression
The organisation has progressed quickly and won support from many key figures in the boxing world, such as Ricky Hatton[8] and Joe Calzaghe. A major step in the development of the organisation was the creation of its website, which allows users to become members, view exclusive articles/images/videos, and allows other organisations to sponsor the PBA through several channels, which is crucial for its development. The organisation is now continuing to recruit members, and also setting up combined gyms/learning centres throughout the UK.
[edit] External Links
The Professional Boxing Association
The Educational Sports Forum
The General Federation of Trade Unions
Barry McGuigan
Union Learning Fund
