Oakleaf Boxing Club hit the big screen

PICTURED ABOVE: Eugene Duffy, president of the Derry County Board ABC with Eugene O'Kane senior, founder member of the Oakleaf ABC and Eugene O'Kane (junior) at the Nerve Centre for the premiere of the Feile documentary about the Brandywell based Oakleaf Amateur Boxing Club. (Photos: Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

This week brought another memorable chapter in the ongoing success story of Oakleaf Boxing Club with the debut of its own documentary, 'From Little Acorns, Mighty Oaks Grow'.

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A Communities In Transition project funded by The Executive Office, the documentary is the latest Gasyard Wall Féile project, following on from ‘Release Your Inner Warrior’, based on Rath Mor Warriors, and ‘City Ti I Die’.

It debuted in the Nerve Centre on Tuesday night and was the result of months of work behind the scenes from director Rory Campbell, Gasyard Wall Féile and everyone at Oakleaf.

The documentary centres around the past, present and future of the club with Secretary Eugene O’Kane the heart of the club since its first day, and Shance Robinson, who recently became the first Derry girl ever to win the Girl 1 Irish title in Dublin.

“It’s great to see,” Eugene said. “They've done a good spread and they've done a lot of work on the club and it'll be something that we can look on in the future.

“When I see myself, I say to myself, “oh jeez, I'm getting very old”. You look at the young boys and they're all grown up, but you don't realise that you're getting older yourself, you know what I mean? It's nice to get a wee bit of recognition for the wee club. Any kind of recognition is always good”.

The documentary comes at a time when the club is prospering, with a brand new, 21st century gym, based in Rath Mor, while several of its young stars have made headlines nationally.

“It's doing great,” Eugene agreed. “We had Shanice become the first Girl 1 champion from the city. And then we had two great wins as well up in Belfast with Charlie Irvine and Jack Harkin, both just turning 18 years of age, and both won Ulster Elite titles.

“Shanice is going away now to a big prestigious tournament in Romania. We're doing very well, let's put it that way. And then we've got some good wee boys, Lucas McIvor, and young Cairns so we have plenty of talent coming through.

“We're trying to get a wee development squad going, wee 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds through the summer, and working with them to try and bring them through, so there's great enthusiasm in the club.

Shereen McCready, Elaine Byrne with Shea, Farrah-Rose and Noah.

“We also have a new president, Toe O'Connor. He was always behind the club for years and years and years. I asked him when he'd come on board and he did so everything's running smoothly, everything’s falling into place.”

Eugene, who has worked in almost every role you could imagine during his years in boxing, is clearly proud to see the club in such a happy and healthy place, with 'From Little Acorns, Mighty Oaks Grow' the latest film to highlight the tremendous sporting talent in the city.

“It’s very, very good,” he said. “A lot of it's about me and then it's about the wee girl Shanice. Rory Campbell, who did a great job, went down to Dublin twice with us and it's well done, well produced and I have to give him full marks for it.

Videographer Ruairi Campbell, who filmed and edited the Feile documentary of the Brandywell based Oakleaf Amateur Boxing Club. (Photos - Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

“This is what it's all about, with these different documentaries. It’s not just boxing, but kickboxing as well, and football as well. They're all getting included in this, so it's good to see a wee bit of recognition.”