Beath Boxing Club to move into bigger and better gym

Beath Boxing Club started up five years ago now and has reached a stage where they need a larger gym to be able to accommodate their class sizes and growing membership.

Coach and founder, Jon-Paul Hynd, told the Times: "We’re fully moving into new premises, we’ve outgrown the one we currently have.

"Over the past year, we’ve taken on additional space at [our current] site, we’ve knocked down a couple of walls but every time we’ve made an improvement to allow us more space, more members join up and we never seem to get any further forward!  

"An opportunity came up to take on a unit that is four times the size of what we currently have so it will be difficult to outgrow that."

The club based on High Street are carrying out renovations to the nearby unit and received incredible support from the community in order to get this done as cost-effectively as possible. They hope to be fully moved in by the end of June.

Renovations at the facility are well under way. (Image: Beath Boxing Club)

He continued: "It’s going really well, all the trades are complete, the plumber, electrician, joiner and the decorators, they’ve all been in. We’ve had a lot of help from these tradespeople.

"We haven’t had a great financial outlay, because the club is run for the community and the kids in the community, but people have been very generous with their time to help us get this going.  

"We said right from the start that the club is 'by the community, for the community' and that we were going to invest heavily in the youth of Cowdenbeath and the surrounding areas.

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"That’s been our ethos since we started and people have really bought into that."

By moving into a new gym, that can facilitate more people, the club will be able to continue to expand. 

Currently, they have 10 volunteer coaches, 25 boxers who fight for them and around 200 registered members, and with a new facility, they'll be able to continue to grow. 

Jon-Paul said: "We currently do four shows a year, we host them at Hill of Beath Club, the Crossgates Legion, Shorty’s and then we do the big one in the Glen Pavilion in Dunfermline in the summer. 

"We’re hoping that we’ll be able to host shows in the new gym because we’ll be able to accommodate a crowd that will be able to come in and watch the youngsters competing, locally.  

"We’re just trying to build our team and get more kids involved. It puts us in a stronger position to be able to do that because just now, we were getting to a point where we were having to turn kids away at the door because we were too busy.

"You never know, one of those kids that you turn away could be the one that goes down the wrong path.  

"For the sake of getting bigger premises, it was a no-brainer for us, so that we would never be in a position where we could ever refuse any kids at the door, so we’re happy that we’re making the move."

For Jon-Paul and the rest of the club, boxing is about so much more than getting in the ring, they're using this sport to help turn youngsters into dedicated and responsible adults. 

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He added: "Everybody thinks boxing is about punching people in the face and that’s the be-all and end-all but nothing could be further from the truth.

"It’s about self-respect, respect for others, confidence, physical and mental fitness, having respect for their parents and their teachers.

"I mean, we say to the guys who start competing for us, that we expect a certain standard of behaviour at school and at home. They’re not abusive to their parents, that they don't get into fights on the street or in the park and that bullying won't be tolerated.

"They’re learning skills that they shouldn't be using outside, so it's about moulding young people as much as it is moulding young athletes.  

"There’s so many distractions for kids these days and they get a bad rep, especially teenagers. They're always getting accused and blamed for being up to no good. But see if you show them a little faith and a bit of belief and give them an outlet, they’ll achieve great things, they’ll never cease to amaze you.

"This year alone we’ve had eight championship medals from different local kids at the Scottish Championships but again it’s down to the kids' hard work. They've dedicated and focused themselves.

"Young Charlie Bonnar from Lochgelly, who is one of our boxers, is undergoing assessments for the Scotland team to go and box in the Tri-Nation championships down in England next month."

Beath are also fully funding a trip for 22 coaches and students to attend a week-long training and sparring camp in Murcia in Spain. 

And they work hard to ensure classes are affordable, around £4 a session.

Beath Boxing Club offers a range of classes for ages four and up, visit their Facebook page for more information.