Roberts hoping Bridgeton basics can lead all the way to Las Vegas
‘PEOPLE HAVE SEEN JOSH COME THROUGH THE RANKS, SO THAT PROVES THE SYSTEM WORKS’
HE has been a bodyguard to commanding officers in Afghanistan. He has prepared troops in 45-degree heat for the rigours of a day in Iraq. He has rushed into the jungle with soldiers of the Sierra Leone army.
Chris Roberts just might be ready for service in Bridgeton.
The Glasgow headquarters of Boxing Scotland is his occasional base as chief executive of the organisation. His latest mission is to bring success to the ‘kids and clubs’ of Scotland.
His background is varied and extraordinary but it tells a consistent, singular story. Roberts gives everything. Daily. ‘I once trained every day for three or four years,’ he reflects casually of his time as a cross-country runner. ‘Every day. Christmas. New Year’s Day. I was constantly pushing myself to the max.’
He was a disciple of Ron Hill, the marathon runner, who died this year aged 82 and claimed his proudest record was that he had run every day for 52 years and 39 days from 1964 to 2017.
‘I was very much into that Tough of the Track thing,’ says Roberts, who was an elite runner, a national cross-country winner and a
“We have to move boxing on in a more positive way”
competitor in the world championships. ‘I bought into that totally. Up on a Sunday for an 18-mile run, living on beans and pizza. That diet has all changed now, of course, with the input of nutritionists.’
The core of Roberts, though, remains unaltered. He ran alongside such greats as Steve Cram, Charlie Spedding and Brendan Foster as an athlete for the illustrious Gateshead Harriers.
‘I just loved being part of it,’ he says. ‘Up on a Saturday for a race and Steve Cram would turn up. I was second to him at a crosscountry event in South Shields.’ The memories remain vivid. The lesson lives on.
‘I saw how sport could change people’s lives. There is a coach at Gateshead who recently celebrated 50 years at the club. He is still there. I still run five days a week.’
His hero was his father, Rod. ‘I used to pound the streets with him,’ he says. ‘He was an elite table tennis player. He entered me in the Great Northern Run when I was 14 but if I was going to compete, I had to train.’
His father died this year, not long after Roberts had left a 30-year stint in the army and joined Boxing Scotland. ‘My experience in the ring is limited to having my nose squashed by a succession of squaddies,’ he explains.
This is self-deprecatory and does not tell anything like the full story. This year, Roberts was rewarded with an OBE for three decades of service to the sport. He rose to the rank of major in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps after deciding that athletics would not pay his bills as a youngster in Gateshead. Promotions were routinely accompanied by qualifications in boxing.
He was a member of the Army Boxing Association executive committee for more than 20 years. He was a judge, referee, supervisor, evaluator and instructor. He is an AIBA three-star official, he has refereed ABA finals and was competitions manager for the World Series of Boxing.
He was recently appointed as chairperson of the AIBA referees and judges committee where his task will be to clean up an area of controversy that has dogged the sport. ‘We have to move boxing forward in a positive way,’ he says. ‘Otherwise what will be left for the children of tomorrow?’
This sense of purpose has, of course, always been part of his life from those draining Sunday runs to preparing troops and officers for overseas tours.
His commitment to boxing, though, can be gauged by the dilemma he faced recently. Roberts was a candidate for promotion to the lofty heights of lieutenant-colonel but chose the role at Boxing Scotland.
Bridgeton beckoned but he carried the experience of tours in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan.
‘I prepared two battalions for overseas duty: one for Iraq and one for Afghanistan. I was in operational theatres, too. It was a huge learning experience adapting to conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan,’ he says.
Morning training was conducted in heat of up to 45 degrees. The unusual became routine. ‘We had this posting in Sierra Leone when we were training the army there,’ he adds. ‘I was there for six months. I had a thousand soldiers in front of me every morning at 5.30. We took them in all different directions, racing them into the jungle, pushing them to the limits. It was an unbelievable sight.’
He also trained officers in the British Army, honing their fitness and preparing them ‘for the reality of war’.
His army career was an educational experience. When he joined more than 30 years ago, the focus was on surviving, coming to terms with the physical demands of being an instructor. ‘It was circuit training, climbing ropes... hard graft. But it builds a mindset,’ he continues.
Part of that is the ability to accept pain as part of the job. This applies to elite athletes, too. Roberts puts it precisely: ‘It is the ability to remain in the zone of discomfort
for as long as you possibly can that brings out the winners.’
Roberts reduces his experiences to one principle theme.
‘They all relate to the development of people,’ he says. This includes himself. The callow Gateshead youth has grown into a veteran with substantial administrative and organisational abilities.
He views his job at Boxing Scotland as yet another opportunity to bring the best out of people.
‘The grassroots is the core of boxing society,’ he says. ‘The club members who look after the boys are not just instructors and coaches. They are more than that. They are an important part of the future of boxing in Scotland.’
He adds: ‘We have to reach out to all four corners of the country and try to influence our sport for the better.’
The elite level is key to future funding, though, and Roberts does not flinch from that reality. ‘The pathway is here and it is clear,’ he says. Scotland has recently produced a pound for pound great in Josh Taylor, the undisputed lightwelterweight champion, while Kash Farooq and Lee McGregor have the potential to rise further at bantamweight. Boxing Scotland, he says, will not be constrained by an orthodoxy in instructing boxers.
‘That is key,’ he insists. ‘It is about developing personalities. The same model doesn’t fit everyone. Boxers want their own character in their performances. It can’t be metronomic.’
He knows he has an asset in Taylor, whose devotion to amateur boxing is such that he declares his best achievement was to win Commonwealth gold in 2014 in a Scotland vest.
Taylor has triumphed in Las Vegas but Glasgow remains his fondest memory. This has a lesson for Roberts. ‘People have seen him come through the ranks so that proves the system works,’ he says.
‘The short term is to pick up some nice medals at the Commonwealth Games next year or at the Olympics.’
‘But, ultimately, it is to create a holistic family. It’s to have everybody thinking in the same way, not thinking it is us and them. It’s not. It’s about success for kids and for clubs.
‘Yes, we want to provide athletes for GB boxing but we want people to be actively involved in boxing. We want to widen the scope of membership. We want to introduce people to the sport of boxing.’
He believes that boxing has profound core values: courage, respect, discipline. Integrity, loyalty, selfless commitment.
‘It can bring out the best in people,’ he declares. ‘That is what this job is all about.’
When discussing preparing troops for the theatre of war, Roberts says simply: ‘Failure is not an option.’
This was an essential demand of his work on the front line of Afghanistan and Iraq. It holds a truth for Bridgeton, too.