'It's about time': Female boxing makes its debut at the Canada Games
CBC
There won't be any P.E.I. athletes when female boxing makes it debut at the Canada Winter Games, but people in the sport hope young girls on the Island will be inspired by what they see and set their sights on the next Games in 2027.
Tracy Stretch is the boxing sport lead on the sport organization committee for the 2023 Games.
She made boxing history in 1995 when she represented P.E.I. as the first woman to compete in the first women's national amateur boxing competition, bringing home a bronze medal — but she was not able to compete at the Canada Games.
"It was a little disappointing because I thought, why not? I'm able to do it at a national level. I'm able to represent my province in regional competitions. Why not at the Canada Games level?" Stretch said.
"At the time in 1995, boxing wasn't included as an Olympic sport ... for females," said Stretch. Female boxing made its debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
"When I heard that boxing was going to be a part of these Canada Games, I was like, it's about time."
Cassie Watts recently won a silver medal in boxing at the Brampton Cup, the largest Canadian amateur boxing tournament in the country.
She vividly remembers as a teenager training in boxing wondering why she wasn't able to compete at the Canada Games.
"When I was training in Charlottetown with boxing, all my teammates were males, there were no females," Watts said.
"I just remember watching them getting ready for Canada Games, and how badly I wanted to be a part of that at the time. And now that it's official that females are involved, it it just makes me so happy to see that," she said.
Watts said the sport can be very male-dominant.
"It's hard to see females come in and stick with it. I think it does take a certain type of athlete to want to be involved with a contact sport like boxing as a female," Watts said.
Taylor Perry has been in the sport for eight years and coaches an all-female group at the KO-ED Boxing Academy in Charlottetown.
None of her boxers had the level of experience needed to compete at the 2023 Canada Games, but she's hopeful for 2027.
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