Glover will be gunning for gold in Australia
TEENAGE boxer Vicky Glover won’t just be a determined contender when she climbs into the ring in Gold Coast in Australia next year... but a history maker, too.
The 18-year-old has become the first woman in the sport to be selected to represent Scotland at a Commonwealth Games.
‘It’s brilliant, a privilege and it means a lot,’ said Glover, one of nine boxers named yesterday to represent Team Scotland next spring.
‘It’s been a massive confidence boost to know that Boxing Scotland thinks enough of me to send me over there.’
But Glover won’t just be happy with creating Scottish sporting history — she has set her sights on a gold medal in the 57kg category.
Glover, who won a British title last year and missed out on a medal at the recent World Youth Championships in India by a split decision, reckons she’s taken extra impetus from the fact she constantly spars with male boxers.
‘The first time I sparred was with a girl but even now, it’s always boys,’ she explained. ‘And competing with some of the top boys has brought me on a lot.
‘I’ve been competing with them and that’s the difference between me and the other girls, I think.’
Glover first took up boxing when she was ten after her father introduced her to the sport.
‘I’d taken up a few things before that: kickboxing, football, dancing, ballet,’ she revealed. ‘I never stuck to anything but I took to boxing straight away. My dad got me involved in it.
‘He saw a leaflet in a few shops and thought that, since I’d been in trouble, it might be a good thing. I’m glad he did.
‘I’d been in a bit of trouble at school and he thought it was a good idea and I got into it right away.
‘He was right. My coach saw potential straight away. He told me to come back and said that I was naturally talented. ‘It was quite intimidating at first but there was a natural buzz. I enjoyed it.’ The last year has been something of a roller-coaster ride for Glover out of the ring, however, after she admitted charges of assault and was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service. But she admits boxing has helped her develop and that she has ‘come a long way since’. ‘I made a mistake. I’m still young,’ she said. ‘We all make mistakes and I’ve learned from it. I’ve done a lot since then, been to the British Championships, the World Championships. Now I am going to the Commonwealth Games. ‘I want to keep moving forward. ‘It’s given me a focus. There’s a lot of discipline for me to keep in boxing.
‘My dad made it a punishment that I wasn’t allowed to go. A lot of kids, their parents push them into it. For me, it was a punishment not to go to boxing and that kept my focus.’
The teenager is just relishing the chance to show what she can do at the Commonwealth Games.
‘I never thought this time last year that I’d be in the position I am now,’ she said. ‘It just shows you can’t let one thing knock you. It doesn’t have to be the making of you.’
Fraser Walker, Boxing Scotland’s interim chief executive, said: ‘This is a ground-breaking moment. Vicky will become the first-ever Scottish female boxer to be selected to represent Scotland in a senior Commonwealth Games and there were three further women in the mix.
‘We had no female team members in Glasgow 2014. This demonstrates how much work we have put in to develop female boxing in Scotland and is testament to the performances of our female boxers, who have impressed so much during the selection period.’
Motherwell’s Reece McFadden, a bronze medallist at Glasgow 2014, is also included in the Scotland team, while John Docherty makes the step up after winning a Commonwealth Young Games gold in 2015.