Renowned amateur Boxing club Rotunda ABC is relishing the re-opening of gyms following the release of the new government plans to ease restrictions over the coming months.
April 12th will see indoor leisure facilities reopen, meaning boxing gyms such as Rotunda ABC will be able to reopen their doors to the public.
The government’s roadmap out of the COVID pandemic outlined this week that outdoor exercise in groups would also be allowed from March 29th.
Speaking to MerseySportLive, the manager of Rotunda Liam Starkey said he was thrilled at the announcement of the news, as it means he can get back to helping the local community through sport.
“It’s a massive step forward for us,” he said. “With the gyms reopening and people getting back involved, it can only be a positive.
“For ourselves what we’ve been doing is making arrangements for the summer, for sessions outside in groups close to our home base in Kirkdale at the Rec.
“I’m looking forward to working with new faces, we’ve got a huge amount of enquiries that are waiting to come on board with us now.”
In terms of the COVID regulations, the club had to follow strict guidelines when gyms reopened in the summer.
But the club is fully prepared for the return of its members, leaving no stone unturned.
“We use two-metre mats, there’s social distancing, a temperature check on arrival and people have to pre-book sessions so everything like that we’ve adhered to.
“We’re just looking to do that on a mass scale as the numbers increase.”
The club is renowned for its work in the community, helping people with their mental and physical health in a number of ways.
Their work with disabled members, schools and young people has been brilliant and a real shining light in the community.
Starkey cannot wait to get back to work in consolidating the initiatives that his club has set out.
“I’m looking forward to going into schools and promoting positive outcomes and sending kids back into school as better children and they’ll get outcomes in school.
“I’m also looking forward to consolidating our programmes that we’ve already set out”
“We’re looking at working with deaf and down syndrome and cerebral palsy sessions and men and women’s health sessions.
“We’ve got more programmes in the pipeline so we’re looking to spread them out across our diary as well, so it’s exciting times.”
The club is home to plenty of hopeful, dedicated amateur boxers; after all, this is a club that has produced world level boxers such as Tony Bellew, Callum & Liam Smith and Natasha Jonas who all came through the ranks here.
Another hopeful amateur is Reese Cain, who can’t wait to get back to the gym and start making up for lost time.
“I couldn’t be happier, it’s been hard trying to keep motivation to train when we have no goal in sight.
“The sooner the boxing is back the sooner I can improve and gather as much experience as possible.”
“Everyone has the same outlook as me, excited and eager to get back to it. It’s like all our improvement and development has been put on hold and we can’t wait to get back to it.”
Find out more information about the club on Twitter @Rotunda_abc or on their Facebook page.
