Rival Boxing Gym is making its presence known as they'll be hosting their Boxing Beauties event on April 27 at the Cochrane Lions Event Centre.
"The event itself is a boxing show. The ladies are going to be competing in the ring with boxing headgear with the red and blue corner. There will be three rounds, each of which are two minutes long and will be sanctioned by Boxing Alberta," said event organizer Anne Garrido. "It'll be what any normal amateur boxing show would look like ... it's open to all ages as long as you've purchased a ticket."
Rival has done many formal and charity events in the past such as the Rumble at the Ranche which as included both men and women, but this event is the first event where the roster of boxers are all female.
"It's the first (fully female event) here, it's the first one in a long time. Even in Alberta there's not a lot of events where it's strictly for women ... the reason behind it was due to the cause. This is a fundraiser for the (Big Hill Haven) women's shelter," Garrido said.
"It all came last summer ... I didn't know we didn't have a women's shelter here in town and I came across their website and saw they were in the process of being funded and to me it was something that's super important to have in the community - to have a women's shelter. When I saw that I was like 'what can I do?' That's my way of helping them to get closer to the opening. I contacted them and asked if I could organize a fundraiser for them and that's how it all started."
Most of the ladies involved in the event are new boxers, who have only started the sport back when training began in January. Garrido said that she's seen a huge improvement from all the ladies since that point.
"There are a few who have been members of the gym for a long time, but most of them have been interested by the opportunity and just started their training in January. Everyone is very new, very green but they are also working very hard to make sure they're ready for April 27 ... they are at the gym every day, at least three or four times and some come five or six times over the course of the week and they work hard to get their skills, cardio and be ready for the fight," she said.
"It's night and day. We start with people who have never boxed before so they have to learn to throw a punch and move their feet and now they are much further than that ... they know how to move around the ring and throw punches, they can do combinations and they've been doing a little bit of sparring with the coaches. They know a lot more now than when they started."
While the event is mostly a fundraiser for the Big Hill Haven Women's Shelter, the group also has a slogan of 'Women Fights for Women Rights' which is also allowing women to feel empowered by the fact they can do anything they put their minds to.
"It was not a long time ago that women have been allowed to engage in sports and I think boxing is one of the sports where women have more opportunity now than they did before," Garrido said.They have the chance to train, compete and why not do it for another cause that is important for women? That's the idea ... to have women engage in sports and have them get the same opportunity as men, the same exposure and all that while helping other women get out of difficult situations in their lives."
Garrido said she doesn't have a goal set for how much she'd like to raise from the event, she's just hoping the community comes out in full force and they raise as much as they possibly can.
"We have great participation from the community. I have been very impressed with everyones involvement and there are smaller and larger businesses that want to be part of it, which is great but I don't know what to expect," she said. "I would say that yes we would like to raise as much as we can and every donation counts of course. We're still two weeks out so I'm still asking around for donations and sposorships ... we're on the right track but we're still in the works."
Tickets are $35 and are available at Rival Boxing Gym.
