Ambitious Kehoe looking to the stars with Marble City

Garry Kehoe has wasted little time in advancing through the coaching circles of local and national boxing.

The Kilkennyman will take the latest step on that journey when he heads up the Irish team for the European schoolboy/schoolgirl championships in Slovenia this week.

Heading up a team will be nothing new to Garry though, as he has been the lead man of Marble City Boxing Club since he was a teenager and he outlines his journey to this stage.

“I’m 26 years of age now and I took over the head coach role in Marble City Boxing Club when I was 19 so and that probably happened a bit quicker than I expected,” he says. “It really happened because my uncle Ross and my father Willie John had both moved into different jobs so they had big ventures themselves and they hadn’t the same time to commit to the boxing club

“There was always a worry then that the club might actually close as we didn’t have any coaches to keep it going as I was in college myself at the time in UCC.

“The club has been a huge part of my life and I’ve been in there since I was five years of age so to even hear the thought of the club maybe even closing or not been as active affected us big time so I decided to take it over. I was fortunate to have my cousin Noel with me who was also in the club since four or five and a couple of other coaches also came on board to help out.”

Within a few minutes of speaking to Kehoe, you quickly get a sense of his aspirations as a coach.

Already he has drastically improved the fortunes of Marble City Boxing Club and now this Irish role looks the next step up.

“The ambition was a big thing for me as I want to see Marble City at the top of Irish Boxing as it’s been a huge part of my life,” Kehoe said.

“We started out that journey I suppose in 2017 and we only had one Leinster champion that year but within two years we went on to become the best club in Leinster.

“We were also in the top three clubs in the country in 2020 so we’ve gone from strength to strength and we kind of consider it a poor season if we aren’t winning three, four or five national titles every year now.

“We’ve also had a couple of international boxers who have won medals globally every year since 2017 so the next step on my journey is to get onto the international ladder and it’s something I’m really looking forward to,” he says.

“I love to test myself and see can I help boxers that are national champions at their own weight and ages and try and help them achieve their goals of maybe a european medal and that would be the next big step.”

A quick look through the numbers coming through Marble City Boxing Club will give you all the indications of an organisation on the up and Kehoe’s hands are all over it.

The Kilkenny City native doesn't lack in belief either and he thinks contending in the next olympic cycle is not beyond some of the boxers in the club.

“For the season gone we had 180 registered members in the club and to put that into perspective that’s up from 45 in 2017, while our female representation has come up massively too, as we now have 15 members and we had nobody six years ago.

“The numbers have increased big time and going back seven or eight years, we’d normally have two or three championship boxers but now we have 25 or 30 who are actively competing in competitions around the country.

“The coaches in the club are giving up six or seven nights a week and that’s from September right through until May or June time.

“It’s a huge commitment and without the support I have in the club, it just wouldn’t be possible to get the club to where it is today and it’s taken a lot of work to get to this level so it’s now about maintaining that and trying to push on another few levels.

“I’ve huge aspirations for the club going forward on where we can get to and some say it’s a small bit of a far fetched idea but I’ve no doubt that I’ve a group of boxers there that over the next three or four years will be targeting the cycle for the Los Angeles Olympics.”

Ultimately, though, in Garry’s mind, the move to a permanent residence at the old James Stephens Swimming Pool site on Michael Street has been the biggest positive for the club.

The facility is among the best in the country for boxing and it’s something everyone in Marble City is really proud of.

“We were based up in the Good Shepherd Centre since 1992 and I couldn’t say anything but the highest of praise for everyone there, as they treated us really well.

“We then moved into the old James Stephens swimming pool with the help of the Kilkenny County Council and we now have a state of the art facility,” the Irish coach added.

“Anyone that comes here recognises it as one of the best facilities in the country and it’s like a purpose built boxing venue.

“It’s absolutley state-of -the-art that’s tailored for male or female, and we have three boxing rings in the club with one being of an olympic size with the only other one in the country in the National Stadium.

“We’re also able to host huge competitions such as the Marble City Boxing League which has clubs from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales all coming over.

“ There’s no doubt about it that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the venue and we are delighted with it.”

You get the feeling this may only be the start of a successful coaching journey for Kehoe!