'It's about time': Female boxing makes its debut at the Canada Games - Action News
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'It's about time': Female boxing makes its debut at the Canada Games

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 seeand set their sights on the next Games in 2027.

P.E.I. won't have any competitors but coaches hope young girls will be inspired for the next Games

A group of girls and women pose in a boxing stance
Tracy Stretch (wearing green) poses with some of the female boxers at the KO-ED Boxing Academy in Charlottetown. (Aaron Adetuyi/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 seeand set their sights on the next Games in 2027.

Tracy Stretch is the boxing sport lead onthe 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.

A woman in a boxing competition holds two bronze medals
Tracy Stretch holds her two bronze medals from national competitions, including the first national competition for female boxers in 1995 and another competition in 1998. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

"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."

'There were no females'

Cassie Watts recently won a silver medal in boxing at the Brampton Cup, the largest Canadian amateur boxing tournament in the country.

At 31, she is now out of the age range to compete at the Canada Games, but she still vividlyremembers as a teenager training in boxing wondering why she wasn't able to compete atthe event.

A woman wearing a boxing Tshirt stands next to a boxing ring
Cassie Watts recently won a silver medal in boxing at the Brampton Cup, the largest Canadian amateur boxing tournament in the country. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC )

"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.

I think it does take a certain type of athlete to want to be involved with a contact sport like boxing as a female. Cassie Watts

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.

Three young female boxers practice in a ring
Some of the female boxers are volunteering at the Games so they can get a first-hand look at the women's competition. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

'They're so pumped'

Taylor Perry has been in the sport for eight yearsand coaches an all-female group at the KO-EDBoxing Academy in Charlottetown.

None of her boxers had the level of experience needed to compete at the 2023 CanadaGames, but she's hopeful for 2027.

"I've been talking with the young girls and they're so pumped," Perry said.

A boxing coach instructs three young boxers in the ring
Boxing coach Taylor Perry, right, hopes some of her young female boxers will be inspired to train for the 2027 Canada Games. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

"Some of them are volunteering, so they'll be able to watch a lot of the boxing, but I think it'll make a huge impact just for them to watch and see what they could potentially become in the future. Hopefully it really inspires them to keep pushing and driving for that goal."

Destiny Perry, 19, has been boxing for four years, and said she's inspired by the competitors coming to the Games.

"To see women in there, especially coming from small towns especially, or countries like Canada," Perry said.

"To see them getting in the ring and be like, oh wow, I could do that too ... it's not just a male sport."

Young woman with blonde hair tied back in ponytail stands in a boxing gym wearing black t-shirt.
'To see them [women] getting in the ring and be like, oh wow, I could do that too ... it's not just a male sport,' says Destiny Perry, 19, who has been boxing for four years. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

"Honestly, before I started boxing, I didn't really see a lot of women in it. Like when you see it on TV, it's mostly men that are fighting," said Genevieve Roach, 15.

"When I come in here, I see Taylor and everyone, and it's really good to see women going into a sport that typically men are in."

It's really good to see women going into a sport that typically men are in. Genevieve Roach, 15

At 13, Emma Campbell could potentially compete at the next Canada Games.

She plans to attend the competition to get a first-hand look.

"Just to see what I can do, to see what they're doing and help myself get better so I can actually do it too," Campbell said.

"I just really love this sport so much, and I want to get my name out there so I can box and have more opportunities to do so."

Two female boxers with head protection and gloves are sparring in a ring
Emma Campbell, left, is 13, and may be eligible for the next Canada Games in 2027. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

Female boxing will debut in Summerside, P.E.I., in Week 2of the Canada Games.

When it does, Stretch plans to be ringside.

"I'll probably be like a kid in a candy store and super, super excited. I already get giddy inside knowing that finally it's happening and it's happening here in Prince Edward Island," she said.

"This is a huge, historic moment for female boxing in Canada and I'm more than thrilled to have it happen here on home ground."