England not competing at Euro Juniors and Schools in 2021, but hope to take part in Youths

England Boxing will not be sending teams to the EUBC European Championships 2021 at Junior or Schools level, it can regrettably confirm.

The decision not to compete at the Juniors in Georgia (from 1st to 12th July) and Schools in Bosnia (from 10th to 20th August) has been taken by the England Boxing board to protect boxers’ health and safety following the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Boxers who win National Championships (all Juniors, Class B Schools), later this year will, however, be invited to training camps to work with the England coaches, given an opportunity to learn about the England pathway and get access to specialist education workshops.

A decision is yet to be made regarding the EUBC European Youth Championships 2021, which will be held in Montenegro from 1st to 12th October, but it is intended that a team will take part, subject to the Coronavirus Pandemic continuing to ease.

The decision for England not to compete in Georgia and Bosnia was based on a number of reasons and risk factors, which include:

• The safety of boxers remains the overall priority. England Boxing is aware of other nations, particularly in Eastern Europe, that have continued to train, spar and compete during the Coronavirus Pandemic, which could result in England boxers being unfairly matched.
• Given that gyms only reopened and full training resumed in mid-April, many boxers have not boxed competitively for 15 months or more and competition is still not allowed by the UK government and highly unlikely to be before 21st June, it leaves very little time to carry out the thorough selection and preparation process needed to be able to enable boxers to compete to the best of their ability.

“While it will be disappointing and frustrating for boxers and their coaches that we will not be sending teams to the European Juniors and Schools, the welfare of the boxers, and ensuring they are not exposed to any undue risk, remains the number one consideration,” said Andrea Rankine, England Boxing’s Interim Talent Pathway Manager.

“The training camps and workshops we are putting in place will, however, enable the England coaches to get to know this year’s national champions ahead of a proposed post-Pandemic return to normal international competition next year, where we will hope to be back firmly among the medals.”

Any further questions, or enquiries, should be emailed to: talentoffice@englandboxing.org

Pictured is gold medal winner Caroline Dubois at the EUBC European Youth Championships 2019.