Three the target for Beijing
With Paddy Barnes (flyweight) and John Joe Nevin (bantamweight) already confirmed for Beijing, Ireland’s representation in the ring will be at least double that of the Athens games where Andy Lee was the sole qualifier.
A nine-man team will make the trip to the Greek capital in four weeks’ time with Ken Egan (light heavyweight), Darren Sutherland (middleweight) and Roy Sheahan (welterweight) among those with high hopes.
Morale was low following a disappointing showing for the team at the World Championships late last year but Nevin’s qualification in Pescara last month has helped raise hopes again.
Gary Keegan, High Performance Director for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, said: “We have set ourselves a target of three (qualifiers). We’re sticking with that, because if we do that, we will be very happy.
“It will be a 200% increase on what we did in the last Olympic Games. There is a chance that we could get another one over the line as well.”
Keegan’s appointment as Director of Technical Services at the Irish Institute of Sport (IIS) was formally announced yesterday but it was confirmed that he will continue to serve in his boxing role up to the Beijing Games.
Keegan’s new brief will be to ensure that Ireland’s top athletes receive the best possible coaching and he will be working in tandem with the NCTC (soon to become Coaching Ireland).
Keegan, interviewed along with candidates from Ireland, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and was chosen thanks to his five years with boxing’s high-performance unit and his familiarity with the wider Irish sporting scene.
He is the last of four key appointments to be made by the Institute. The other posts previously filled were Director of Athlete Services (Phil Moore), Director Sports Medicine (Dr Rod McLoughlin) and Director of Sports Science (Greg Whyte).
While efforts are being made to ensure progress in the coaching field for athletes focusing on the 2012 London Games, IIS executive chairman Sean Kelly made it clear that Keegan’s appointment was no instant remedy.
“It is going to be a slow process, no doubt about it. You can’t just turn on the tap and say we will have elite coaches, even in a year. For the next 12 months he will be identifying what needs to be done — drawing up strategies et cetera.
“We will obviously be trying to fast-track the development of elite coaches because that is currently the biggest drawback in Irish sport at the moment — we do not have that many top quality coaches.”
Developing those native experts is the long-term aim for Keegan but, in the short-term, there is likely to be a continuing flow of foreign personnel into the country to make up for the current lack of qualified candidates.
The IABA, with Georgian Zaur Antia working alongside Billy Walsh and Jim Moore in their high performance section, is one example of the benefits to be accrued from employing both Irish and non-Irish coaching personnel.
“Bringing international coaches in is something that will always happen because it is a flux area,” said Keegan. “Coaches travel from country to country and, with Ireland becoming recognised as a high performance area, coaches will start to see Ireland as a career option for them.
“The vision remains for the majority of coaches leading the high performance system here to be Irish. We will work with international coaches until we get an education and development process that is world class.”
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