Quesnel 2 Rivers Boxing Club has reopened to the public while implementing new health and safety and protocols due to COVID-19.
The boxing club reopened on June 1 and 2 Rivers owner and coach Wally Doern says he is very happy to be back in business.
“It is good, it is very good, I think everybody is very happy to be back,” said Doern.
It isn’t quite business as usual though for Quesnel’s boxing community, as Boxing Canada’s return-to-sport recommendations see clubs across the province limiting the number of members allowed inside their buildings at one time, prohibit sparring and the use of hand pads.
The protocols mandated from Boxing Canada have forced Doern and his club members to adapt to the situation and they are making the best of it, focusing on different types of training that may not have received as much attention previously.
“We are going in a bit of a different direction is we are teaching a lot of shadow boxing, with that being said we are concentrating more on combinations and foot work something that we didn’t really have a lot of time to do before but we have a lot of time to do it now,” said Doern.
Shadowboxing is a training method in which an individual moves around by themselves throwing punches at the air in a way that mimics fighting an opponent, Doern says it is the perfect way to train under the current restrictions.
“Shadow boxing can be done at two metres apart and I can instruct it from two meters away or more quite easily so nobody is in close quarters,” said Doern. Even when we are doing bag work the bags are all measure out at more the two metres away from each other so that there is no danger of us infringing on the regulations that we have been given to follow.”
While Doern is happy that he has be able to reopen his doors and welcome the boxing community back to his club he believes it may be a long time before competitive boxing gets back on track. He has had to postpone the clubs annual Rumble until 2021.
“I’ve had to push the Rumble ahead to April 3 of 2021, so it really has affected the boxing community here in Quesnel,” said Doern. “As it is right now, I don’t think that unless there is a big change, it doesn’t look like there is gonna be any boxing anywhere competitively this fall, I was told from Boxing Canada that there will be no competitions for the remainder of this year.”
The 2 Rivers Boxing Club is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 p.m. for anyone looking to learn some boxing skills and get a great workout, Doern asks however that any new members call him before coming to the club in order to insure that he can accommodate them while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Wally Doern can be reached at 250-925-4834.
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sasha.sefter@quesnelobserver.com
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