Thirteen National Teams Gather in Assisi for Joint Training Camp
25 February 2020National Teams from four Confederations have come to Assisi, Italy to prepare their male and female boxers for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying tournaments in London, UK and Amman, Jordan. From February 18, an intensive 12-day training camp with exhibition bouts and sparring sessions has been hosted by the Italian National Boxing Training Center.
The best European female coach of 2019, Maarit Teuronen, summarized her experience in Assisi: “Since 2016, I have been bringing the Finnish team for joint training camps with Italy and other nations. I love the atmosphere here in Assisi and the facilities are very good too. It is easy to focus on the necessary work and I feel like the preparations for London are going good!”
Some teams have crossed the entire globe to be in Assisi for this camp, like Team New Zealand. With a goal to get ready for the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying Event in Jordan that is set to begin on March 3, 2020. “We are happy to train here and are planning to fly directly to Amman after the camp is over. Our five male and four female boxers received a good opportunity to train with strong European teams. The level of opposition was very good. Now we are used to the time zone and are looking forward to competing for the Tokyo 2020 quota places!” – the New Zealand Head Coach said.
“For Team Switzerland, it is exceptionally difficult to organize special preparation training camps and arrange sparring sessions in our country as we do not have many boxers competing at the international level. This time again, as many times before, we are travelling to Assisi to resolve this. As the Head Coach, I cannot be more satisfied with the experience and workout my male and female boxers received in the last days.” – Michael Sommer, the Head Coach of Swiss National Team commented.
EUBC President, Franco Falcinelli expressed his gratitude to participants and organizers: “As a former coach, I enjoy it immensely when large training camps take place. Coaches and boxers are interacting and learning from each other. They are constantly sharing their knowledge, exchange experiences and growing together! I would like to express appreciation to the Italian Boxing Federation for organizing such intercontinental training platforms in Assisi. This time, over 120 boxers took part and I hope that each one improved as an athlete!”
Italy was represented by 12 female and 19 male boxers. Team Russia was the largest visiting delegation with 20 boxers. Other participating teams were Ireland, France, Croatia, Romania, Moldova, Serbia, India, and Chile.
