AS temperatures reach the high 30s in coming weeks, sporting officials need to be mindful of how their participants are coping at training and playing.
Extra water breaks are among the essential requirements as the weather heats up.
For experienced regional trainers like Robbie Sbeghen, monitoring the conditions is important, especially when his regular training is in a backyard shed at Walloon.
The Rebels Boxing Club owner, manager and mentor ensures fans are turned on and rising temperatures are watched closely.
“Once the heat hits over 34 degrees, we’ll work underneath the big shady tree here,” he said. “Then I’ll have the fans going [inside].
“Until it gets under 32 degrees, I won’t have them in the shed. It’s too hot for them.”
That is particularly important working with teenagers.
Sbeghen has trained boxers for 17 years after growing up in the Rosewood area.
As he planned more training before the Christmas break, Sbeghen was pleased how his charges fared at the recent Boxing Queensland Golden Gloves tournament.
Among the rising talents was Ariki Cliffe, who won a gold medal in the junior heavyweight [80+kg] division.
“He is one of the up and comers,” Sbeghen said, proud of the 16-year-old boxer.
“He will go a long way this kid.”
Ariki is displaying an abundance of talent having only been at the club for nine months.
He typifies the work ethic of the club’s most exciting prospects.
“We’re doing running every day and doing the stuff at home before they come here, which is a bonus,” Sbeghen said.
The Level 3 coach said that extra work proved the difference for Ariki when beating a heavily favoured opponent from Western Australia and scoring his gold medal victory.
Other Rebels club boxers to impress were silver medal-winning trio Max Cuthel, Lachlan Ward and Azaisas Oui-Nona.
Max collected his silver in the 34kg division.
Lachlan fought in the light welterweight division.
Azaisas competed in the welterweight class.
All four medal winners are orthodox boxers.
Other previous Rebels Boxing Club members to have won Golden Glove titles include Chris Bourke (2016, 2018 and 2019), Jesse Jenner (2017 and 2018), Kayne Tate (2018), Chase Townsend (2016), and 2017 winners Mick Chong and Salesi Kaitu.
In an earlier Moreton Border News story, Sbeghen shared the value of encouraging self-belief and helping his young club members improve through boxing.
“It’s seeing the kids develop and nurture and become a teenager and then an adult, and holding their heads up high and achieving something in life,” Sbeghen said.
“When they leave school, they actually get jobs and they can hold jobs.”
The recent Golden Gloves success gave those at the club a timely boost with an All Stars competition later this month before the First Nations tournament in November.
