Greater Victoria Amateur Boxing Association: by Brian Zelley
Back in the 1950's there was an active Greater Victoria
Amateur Boxing Association that organized amateur boxing
and promoted boxing shows such as the
1954 Vancouver Island Golden Gloves.
For that tournament the Golden Boy would be Bert Wilkinson.
One of the active members and a one time president was
Howard Curling. Twenty or so years later, Howard would be
appointed Vancouver Island amateur boxing commissioner
by the British Columbia Amateur Boxing Association, but
by then there was no active Victoria Amateur Boxing Association.
The Great Revival - 1990
* As part of the attempt to revive amateur boxing in Victoria
prior to the 1994 Commonwealth Games boxing tournament
steps were taken by the boxing committee comprised of
Hassan Sunderani, Brian Zelley, Mike Sartori and Glynn Jones
to revive the G.V.A.B.A.
The May 13, 1990 public meeting was established to revive the
Association and elect directors and committees. The meeting
was chaired by Victoria Commonwealth Games Executive Director
J. Stothart at the Prince Mary restaurant with
was a follow-up to an earlier public meeting concerning the
process of dealing with volunteers for the Commonwealth Games.
Those in attendance included Stothart, the four members of the
Victoria Commonwealth Games committee Jones, Sartori,
Sunderani and Zelley, and 18 potential volunteers including
well known boxing folks such as Bert Wilkinson, Wes Byrnell,
Tommy Black, Al Curtis, Mike Caird, and Don Orr.
Elected to be the founding directors were:
Tom Duncan, Mike Caird, Mike Sartori, Ian Weir, Brian Zelley,
Pud Smith, Wes Byrnell, Ian Duddy, Rick Brough, Etsel Ross,
Dan Buie, Hassan Sunderani, Bert Wilkinson and Tommy Black.
The four elected officers were:
Brian Zelley, Pud Smith, Wes Burnell and Ian Duddy.
Various committees were established:
Medical committe - chairman, Dr. Dan Buie
Events committee - chairman Bert Wilkinson
Coaching committee - chairman, Mike Sartori
Officials committee - chairman Rick Brough
Facilities committee - chairman, Ian Weir
PR committee - chairman, Pud Smith
Finance committee - co-chairs: Ian Duddy and Brian Zelley
BCABA Liason - Mike Sartori
Over tune, the association would fade into a non-public state,
and other people would get involved including a current
boxing coach in Victoria.
The end of the Dream:
Nothing lasts forever, for all purposes there does not appear to
be any organized regional association to keep the support
alive and growing. Long gone are all those committees that
were attempting to re-establish boxing in Greater Victoria
and Vancouver Island like the time period between 1954 to 1984.
With that revival in the nineties, it was not only to be established
for the Commonwealth Games, but the possibilities and expectations
for amateur boxing to keep growing and be active in club shows
and tournaments, but it faded and failed as the years slipped away.
In fact the ideal and strength of the association would see cracks even before the 1994 Commonwealth Games, In fact, some of the Canadian, Provincial, Island and local politics
would guarantee, failure would be the final solution. Loyalty to the sport, was secondary, but
that has often been the case.
