Tyersal teen braced for Bosnia and hails Queensbury boxing club after award win

SHE may have only just turned 15, but it is hard to argue with Siobhan Haley being named Sportswoman of the Year at the Bradford Sports Awards.

The Tyersal teenager is one of just two boxers from Yorkshire to be selected by England for next month’s Junior European Championships in Bosnia as she looks to win her most prestigious title yet.

Siobhan is indebted to the time and effort Platinum Boxing Club in Queensbury have invested in her and there is every chance an Olympic Games appearance or a professional career could be on the cards if she continues on her current trajectory.

Speaking to the T&A just moments after winning her Sportswoman of the Year award last Friday at LIFE Centre Events in BD3, Siobhan said: “I’m very grateful to be here and it means a lot to me to win this.”

Talking about potentially following in the footsteps of double Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams, who is from Leeds but attended Bradford College as a teenager, Siobhan said: “It’s something to look towards for me.

“Winning a European gold medal is something very hard to do at my age, but winning an Olympic gold really would mean a lot to me.

“I go to Sarajevo on June 21 and I’ll be over there for 12 days competing, hopefully bringing back the gold.”

Siobhan’s medal cabinet will be fit to burst if she has success in the Bosnian capital, as she told the T&A: “Up to now, I’ve won eight Box Cups, two national championships for England, a tri-nations medal and a European medal for England at the Schools Championships.

“But this tournament coming up in Sarajevo is a Junior one, so this time I’ll be boxing against people older than me.”

Siobhan does not give the impression of being a young woman overwhelmed by that daunting prospect, and she told us: “Now and then I can get fazed and I do get nervous a lot.

“But I just have to look like I’m the better person and that I’m the best out there in the ring.”

Sobhan Haley (right) winning gold at the England Boxing National Schools Championships Finals last year. (Image: Clive Wood/England Boxing.)

Platinum have helped give Siobhan that confidence, and she enthused: “I would not be anywhere near where I am without them.

“I moved to Platinum two years ago, and when I was out my old boxing club, they didn’t do a lot for me.

“They didn’t get me out much for good fights, whereas Platinum give me a lot of attention and help.

“They’ve basically made me who I am as a boxer.”

With Platinum’s assistance, Siobhan looks to have the world at her feet, and asked if she’d consider the sport as career path, she said: “I would like to be able to say I’m a professional boxer one day.

“But it’s all about what happens in the future.

“All I’m really looking for, for now, is to go to the Olympics and see how it goes from there.”

One big advantage for amateur boxers is their fights tend to be a lot more frequent than professional ones, with Siobhan reflecting: “It’s a buzz to do that, though it is hard for me to get fights in England.

“But because I’m competing at a high level, I can get lots in different countries.

“Even so, I can go from boxing once every two months, or having five fights a month.

“But I train a lot regardless, so I’m always ready to fight if something comes up for me.”