Professional Boxing Association

The [http://thepba.org 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 [http://educationalsportsforum.co.uk Educational Sports Forum (ESF)] ), Barry McGuigan (ex World Featherweight Champion [cite web|url=http://www.britishboxing.net/boxers_202-Barry-McGuigan.html|title=Profile: Barry McGuigan] ) and Micky Cantwell (ex British Flyweight Champion [cite web|url=http://www.britishboxing.net/boxers_14705-Mickey-Cantwell.html|title=Profile: Micky Cantwell] ). 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 [cite web|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/mcguigan/2007/12/15/get-it-back-on-the-telly-89520-20253285/|title=The Mirror] .

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 [cite web|url=http://thepba.org/?a=11|title=PBA Course Information] . This has been achieved because of the PBA's affiliation with the ESF [cite web|url=http://www.educationalsportsforum.co.uk/esf-affiliates.php|title=ESF Affiliates] , which is has links to the European Economic Community (EEC) through the [http://www.unionlearningfund.org.uk 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 [cite web|url=http://www.gftu.org.uk/docs/2008EducationBooklet.pdf|title=GFTU Courses] , all of which can now be enjoyed by members of the PBA.

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

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. [cite web|url=http://www.thepba.org?a=2|title=PBA Mission Statement]

Progression

The organisation has progressed quickly and won support from many key figures in the boxing world, such as Ricky Hatton [cite web|url=http://thepba.org/?a=9&b=2|title=Ricky Hatton exclusive PBA Interview] and Joe Calzaghe. A major step in the development of the organisation was the creation of its [http://thepba.org 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.

External links

* [http://www.thepba.org The Professional Boxing Association]

* [http://www.educationalsportsforum.co.uk The Educational Sports Forum]

* [http://www.gftu.org.uk The General Federation of Trade Unions]

* [http://www.barrymcguigan.com Barry McGuigan]

* [http://www.unionlearningfund.org.uk Union Learning Fund]

References