DURIE’S GYM RETURN CALL
Coach Archie hopes for Scot Gov approval
Boxing club coach Archie Durie has issued a plea to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to allow their gym to re-open amid rising financial costs.
Durie’s Amateur Boxing Club closed it’s doors five months ago in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and had hoped to get the green light to re-open this month.
However, it now looks set to be September at the earliest youngsters and professionals will be allowed back in the Rutherglen gym.
Archie admits that the latest news from the Scottish
Government has been a real body-blow for the club.
He said: “We had a real dampener on things last week when we heard that it could be as late as September 14 that we get to re-open.
“I can help my pro boxers work in smaller sessions and they are still booked in for their fights in October, but obviously they are scared that won’t happen.
“For me and younger boxers there is no other options right now. I’m on the phone to the younger ones and do virtual training sessions with them to keep them active and interested, but it’s been a long time.
“We’ve had professional cleaners into the gym three times now. They were in last week again; the third time in 10 weeks.
“We’ve totally gutted the place and the place is spotless, and we are still not getting a new date.
“We had a staff meeting at the weekend and were talking about getting back to work. We had the meeting on the Thursday, and didn’t get the news we expected, so it’s been a real blow.
“We can’t plan or try to get back right now. I don’t know what we are going to do, but we need some clarity.
“The government have said it could open before September 14, but I don’t see it happening now.
“We will be ready and clean whenever they make the call.”
The trainer concedes that the cash losses are rising with no income.
Archie added: “The boxing isn’t just a hobby or a job, it’s my life.
“I’ve not made a single penny since this all started and we still have all the same bills to keep paying out.
“What the public have done for me and the donations they have made to keep me and the club going makes me quite emotional.
“People stop you in the street and wish you well, so it’s quite encouraging in that aspect.
“The bills have still been coming in over the last five months, that’s for sure.”