The History and Present Activities of Rectory ABC
Rectory Amateur Boxing Club was set up by Phil Brennan in February 2007 to promote the sport of amateur boxing and offer a healthy lifestyle choice to local people. Since 2007 the club has gone from strength to strength and has had hundreds and hundreds of local people use its facilities and dozens represent the club in competition.
Marking our 10th Anniversary in January 2017 the club won the prestigious ‘Club of the Year Award’ at the Sutton Coldfield Sports Awards
The club is now being run by Phil Brennan (Senior Coach, Secretary, Child Welfare Officer) Kerry Brennan (Treasurer) Simon Cheek (Chairman/Coach) Ty Dyer (President/Coach) Heath Murphy (Coach) Carl Beresford and Ray Pearce (Volunteers). All staff are DBS checked and coaches ABAE qualified, the club has been a member of England Boxing (formally ABAE) since 2007. Rectory ABC is a voluntary organization where profits are fed back into the club in order to improve it.
We have had many local youngsters represent the club in competition, and Rectory ABC holds a minimum of three ‘Home Shows’ every season. We are proud to say that the club has produced National Champions, national finalists and many Midland Champions. Several of our boxers have been selected to represent the ‘Midlands ABA’ and receive a county vest.
The club is based in dedicated rooms upstairs at Rectory Park Pavilion, and can be reached through the Broomie Close entrance to Rectory Park, Sutton Coldfield.
History
The reason Phil started the club was because he believed strongly in the power of boxing as a sport, and as a leisure pursuit. He also believed in the sports ability to help youngsters build their confidence and respect for others, while providing discipline and a healthy lifestyle choice to those young people who take part. The club continues to make those factors the corner stones of the clubs philosophy. Historically there had never been a boxing club in Sutton Coldfield and there was a great deal of support from the local community, the police and the local council when the idea to set up the club was first suggested.
During the time the club has been open it has worked with six local schools running boxing programmes for their pupils, including a special needs school. We have worked with youngsters who have behavioural issues, writing exclusive programmes just for them. We have acted as an examiner for a local school to grade their pupils who took boxing as a part of their AS and A Level exams. We work closely with local youth workers on Falcon Lodge (a local community) who regularly recommend youngsters to us.
More background on the club
In recent years the club has undertaken the task of raising money for a local Charity Foundation and other local ‘good causes’. The main benefactor is from club fund raising is The Freya Brennan Foundation who are an organisation that raise money for equipment in local Neo-natal wards. The Freya Brennan Foundation has been in the top 100 money raisers at Birmingham Childrens Hospital for the past two years, and have been officially recognized by the hospital for this feat, Rectory ABC are pleased to state that we have been the biggest single contributor to the Foundation during both of those years.
Rectory ABC has also recently entered into a sponsorship deal with local firm Coleman & Company who, with the boxing club share a belief in helping their local community, and the people in it. Rectory ABC and Coleman & Company will work together to provide opportunities for club members in the world of work and apprenticeships.
The club has a close link to the local police neighborhood crime prevention teams and try to offer a positive lifestyle choice to local youngsters.
The club is run on a volunteer basis and it is a club policy to run our sessions as cheaply as possible. We do this so that finances do not become an issue when youngsters and their parents/carers make the decision on whether they should attend.