Northern
Ireland Kickboxing Board of Control
Kickboxing in Northern Ireland is entering a new phase this spring
with the establishment of a Board Of Control.
Though the sport has had a foothold in the Province for 25 years,
the last five have seen an explosion in interest and activity that
has lead the main players to decide it is time to gather together
the disparate groups under an official regulatory body.
“The sport is in a very different place to when I started
in kickboxing in the late 70s,” said Billy Murray, the lynchpin
who has held Irish kickboxing together through the years. “Then,
it was a barely recognised sport with dangerously unregulated events
held in pokey rooms above pubs. Now, there are hundreds of clubs
and gyms throughout the country, all with perfect safety records.
There are a great number of sell-out shows in some great arenas
across the Province – for the last two years kickboxing has
been a bigger spectator sport in Belfast than boxing. These events
are televised live across the globe and our kickboxers are heading
around the world to compete. Belfast City Council has backed us
for the last three years, as have a number of other local councils
and the Northern Ireland Events company.
“It’s unbelievable that this has happened without a
central organisation. There are some problems with groups on the
outer edges of kickboxing – this raises safety issues that
need to be resolved. A board is the only way of adequately doing
this.
It will also mean that there are core standards that everyone will
have to meet if they are to hold official shows or set themselves
up as coaches.”
Murray and several other members of the kickboxing fraternity are
calling all coaches, senior fighters and promoters involved with
Full Contact Kickboxing (no light contact or other derivatives that
fall under the auspices of karate-based organisations) to a meeting
at the Holiday Inn in Belfast on April 3.
They will establish the first Northern Ireland Kickboxing Board
of Control and ratify the constitution.
“If you want to play a meaningful part in the future of the
sport, you have to be there,” said Murray.
All groups and individuals interested should contact the ProKick
Group on 02890 651074 or email prokick@group.tm
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