A CHAMPION boxer has been delivering some knockout advice to budding sports stars of the future.
Four times ABA British champion Amanda Coulson presented awards at a special sport assembly at Northallerton College.
The 30-year-old, of Hartlepool, presented Northallerton College sports ties and pins, area badges and certificates to students who had represented the college at area, county and regional levels in sports including equestrian events, hockey, rugby, football, cross country and athletics.
A three times European silver medallist and competitor in two world championships, Amanda is now a motivational speaker as part of the Sky Sports initiative Living for Sport. She also spent the day coaching Northallerton College students in a variety of activities to inspire the next generation of athletes.
She told them: “I was 14 and just wanted to box and the more people said no, because I was a girl, the more determined I was to prove them wrong.
“I finally contacted Hartlepool Catholic Boys Boxing Club and they warned me there would be no leniency because I was a girl. I was always first there and the last to leave.”
Students heard that she had trained for two years before her first contest and she had then won the next 12 fights. Amanda was called up to compete for the first ever English ladies boxing team – only to be beaten in the first round.
“That was hard and I thought about giving up,” she recalled. “But then I remembered all the hard work I had put in over the years and went back to the gym.
“Sport is a massive part of people’s lives and helps you to be more successful generally. The rewards are out there. I hadn’t been anywhere and now have been all over the world.”
Head of PE at Northallerton College Anna Harvey said: “The assembly was to celebrate all of the students’ sporting achievements at all levels.
“As Amanda pointed out, sport is an incredibly powerful motivator which extends into all aspects of life, whether that is academic studies, professional development or simply having a positive attitude to life.”
