TWIN TOWNS BOXER Donna Barr is set for the European Women’s Elite Championships in Sofia next month – but needs your support.
Barr will travel to Bulgaria as the Irish flyweight (51kgs) boxer as she bids to win the medal that would place her on the Irish Sports Council’s funding list.
Barr is a three-time Irish champion, who represented Ireland at the World Championships this year in Kazakhstan.
Until now she boxed at light-flyweight (48kgs), but as a non-Olympic weight there are no funding opportunities there.
[adrotate group=”85″]“Zaur (Antia, IABA Technical Coach) advised me to move up to 51kgs with the long-term plan in mind,” Barr says.
“There are no Olympics at 48 and no funding so you could win Irish titles at 48 for ten years and get nothing out of it. There are so many doors that could open with moving up a weight.”
The sport comes with a big financial burden these days.
[adrotate group=”83″]While the IABA will foot the travel, accomodation and basic food bill in Sofia, thereafter the boxer must dig deep.
“Because there is no funding, it is expensive. I have to take the whole month of November off work to represent Ireland at the European Championships at my own expense,” Barr says.
With that in mind, the talented Twin Towns puncher is appealing for businesses to make a donation, however small they may be, to aid her in her quest to win a medal in Bulgaria and get a coveted place on the funding ladder.
[adrotate group=”53″]Barr has won Irish titles at novice, Under-22 and Intermediate level.
Last year, she lost to Lauren Hogan in the Irish Senior Elite final in Dublin but, since then, has been training in the High Performance Unit in Dublin.
Barr was beaten by Kim Klavel of Canada in the World Championships in Astana, but is now set to follow Cavan’s Ceire Smith as Ireland’s 51kgs representative.
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