campaign
KNOCKOUT
Nicola Adams credits local club for her boxing glory – your grassroots hero could win £1k for International Women’s Day
Ten deserving candidates win £1,000 each to invest into their local sports club
AS a teen, Nicola Adams was usually the only girl in the boxing gym – and often ridiculed for her dream of one day becoming an Olympic champ.
Not only was she in a mostly men’s sport, women’s boxing was banned in England, full-stop.
5
5
But she achieved her ambition at the London 2012 Olympics — the first to allow women to box — when she became the first female boxer to win gold.
She followed that up four years later with another Olympic win, in Rio, which made her the first female boxer to retain an Olympic title.
In honour of the coaches who backed her since she started in the sport aged 12, Nicola is now backing our campaign to highlight the grassroots heroes who go to extraordinary lengths in order to promote women’s sport.
Our drive will see ten deserving candidates win £1,000 each to invest into their local sports club.
read more on nicola adams
For full terms and conditions, click here.
Nicola, 41, who is in a relationship with model Ella Baig, says: “The main thing in my sport was always the sexism, never homophobia.
“I’ve never encountered that, and racism was something that had happened to me just at school.
“I’d get comments from boxers, supporters and coaches about women belonging in the kitchen or saying why don’t I get out of the ring and play tennis instead.
Most read in Celebrity
“People would say, ‘You’re too pretty to box’, and all that kind of stuff. Some gyms wouldn’t even let women in.
“At that time, women were banned from boxing professionally.
“I was knocked back so many times. I was told repeatedly that women don’t belong in a boxing ring — and that was among the tamest of the comments.
Competing’s hard for mums, there’s a lack of support
Nicola Adams
“But it didn’t put me off. It made me more determined to prove the naysayers wrong. I know their behaviour was unacceptable. It makes me so angry now.
“I wouldn’t let anyone stand in my way, and was lucky to have coaches who did support me. I had the right people around me.”
Nicola credits two coaches in particular — Sheffield’s Alwyn Belcher and Amanda Groarke, one of the first female boxing coaches when Nicola was starting out.
Inside Strictly star Nicola Adams' luxury Maldives holiday as islands rocked by Cyclone Balal
Speaking about Alwyn, Nicola says: “We met when I was 18 and I was at a women’s England training camp, one of the first ever for women, and he didn’t train women at the time.
“He is inspirational, he honoured my goal to become an Olympic champion. Even though female boxing was not an Olympic sport until 2012, he wanted to help me achieve that.
“It was partly down to him that I kept going. I needed his words of support.
“He taught me that encouragement is vital to help women get active — it’s about feeling like you belong and that the space is for you too.
“He built me up every single day. Alwyn is now 84 and still coaches grassroots.
“The UK needs more people like Alwyn, and those like him need recognising as they are inspiring a whole generation of sportspeople.”
I used to spar with the boys, but I wasn’t allowed to box them
Nicola Adams
Nicola first got into boxing at the age of 12 after she happened on a children’s boxing class at a gym in Leeds, which immediately ignited a passion.
Nicola spent most of her teenage years sparring against boys as women were banned from boxing in England until 1996.
The ban had been in place for more than a century and was based on the idea that premenstrual syndrome made women too unstable to box. Nicola did have, and win, one fight when she was 13, before the ban was lifted.
But it was four years until she faced another opponent.
Nicola has talked about how frustrating it was not being able get into the ring or fight the boys during those years.
However, by her late teens, with the ban lifted and Alwyn coaching her, Nicola was unstoppabble, becoming English amateur champion in 2003.
Amanda Groarke was another coach who inspired her.
Describing her influence, Nicola says: “When I was starting out, Mandy was one of the first female boxing coaches.
“She was inspirational to the women in the team, because as a female boxing coach she had a lot of stigma to fight against herself.
“It was pretty unheard of to do that job. She was incredible — she used to physically take us away to tournaments. She basically did everything — she was the physio, nutritionist, sports psychologist and boxing coach all in one. This was because before women’s boxing was made an Olympic sport, it didn’t get any funding even though we were supposed to get the same amount as the boys.
“I’ve remained in contact with her and Alwyn because they made such an impact on my life.”
Nicola adds: “It is very important for all women to be included in sport, it’s been difficult and continues to be.
“Women dropping out of sport in puberty is so annoying, and is probably because girls aren’t really encouraged to do sports and they fall out of PE classes.
“I’m hoping that now times are changing, that coaches are not so strict on girls in schools on their periods having to compete or join in. Come on, give them a bit of time to relax.
5
5
“When I was coming up, regardless of menstruation or what state your body was in, you were pushed to work.
“But for many, being pushed makes you step completely away.”
Nicola also believes that raising a family is still a stumbling block for women. Nicola’s journey to parenthood began in 2020, when she and her partner of five years Ella, 25, started IVF.
Their longed-for baby boy Taylor was born in July 2022.
Nicola says: “Competing in sport — or exercise — is really hard for mums. There is just not a lot of support around for staying active after your baby comes along, and there should be more.
I knew how good I was and want other girls to believe too
Nicola Adams
“It is hard being a mum. I can see that from what Ella went through when she carried our son.
“From pregnancy to getting back to fitness again, it is all a struggle and then you have taking care of your little one to take into account.
“Like the old saying goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a baby’.
They weren’t lying. It takes a village to help that person get back into sport too, because if they don’t have childcare they can’t continue training, be it for a 5k Parkrun or an Olympic sport.
The wonderful thing about grassroots sports is that everyone is included from all ethnicities, sizes and disabilities
Nicola Adams
“When my son is growing up, I really hope that the sporting landscape will be different.
“Hopefully, girls and boys will play football together at older ages than now, and certainly do boxing training together.”
Nicola thinks a lack of funding for grassroots sports is letting down Britain’s future sports stars.
She says sadly: “A study by a brewery firm found that 84 per cent of Brits believe grassroots sport needs to receive more funding — with equipment, pitches or courts and training facilities most in need of a cash injection.
More needs to be done, especially now that there is less money in people’s bank accounts.
“If parents are on a tight budget in this cost-of-living crisis, sports classes are the first thing to go. There is less to occupy kids, so they are getting into trouble.”
With International Women’s Day on March 8, focusing this year on inclusion, Nicola believes this is the time for grassroot sports to really shine.
She says: “The wonderful thing about it is that everyone is included — all ethnicities, sizes and disabilities. No one is left out.”
Nicola had her fair share of knocks when trying to get into boxing, but this has helped her advise other women.
She says: “Coaches came up to me saying sexist things.
I’ve seen so many female boxers who could have been champions today, but they couldn’t face the pressure of the comments or lack of funding to stick it out — and that is sad
Nicola Adams
“I just did not care what their opinion was, but this is unacceptable and I do not want women facing this in 2024.
“My coach supported me, I knew how good I was — and I want other girls to believe this too.
“I am desperate for everyone to stand up for themselves.
“Research from the This Girl Can campaign shows that 2.4million fewer women than men value sport and physical activity, known as the “enjoyment gap. When I reflect on my experiences, it doesn’t surprise me. Hurtful comments can scupper people’s futures.
“My life would have been very different if I had listened to the person who said, ‘Women can’t box’.
“I’ve seen so many female boxers who could have been champions today — but they couldn’t face the pressure of the comments, or lack of funding, to stick it out. And that is sad.
“That is why it is so very important for women to keep supporting other women in sport, holding each other up, because we can’t do this on our own.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“There are women, in 2024, who are making a big impact on sports for women.
“It is so important to keep educating the next generation of athletes to come through, at grassroots level, to get to the Olympics and to win some medals for us.”
5
Topics