Raphoe ABC welterweight Leah Gallen will represent Ireland at the European Junior Championships in October.
There had been some uncertainty over the make-up of the Irish squad, but this week the IABA’s Central Council confirmed that all of the recently-crowned Senior Cadet champions will travel to Anapa.
That means Gallen, the 66kgs winner at those championships, will be on the plane to Russia and represent Ireland for the first time.
Gallen stopped Sophia Hopkova in the third round of their final at the National Stadium, adding to the Girl 5 title she won earlier in 2018 with a win over Keisha Attwell.
Just two weeks ago, Gallen told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub: “It has been my dream to get an Irish vest.”
And now, following some internal wrangling between the IABA’s own High Performance Unit and its Central Council, she has that confirmation.
Tomorrow, Gallen will head for the National Stadium with Raphoe ABC coaches Gary McCullagh and Gerard Keaveney for squad training with the rest of the senior cadet winners.
Some champions had received correspondence from the High Performance Unit threatening exclusion.
However, that was described this week by National Secretary Art O’Brien as ‘bullying in nature and frankly, the attempt to tighten young children is beneath contempt’.
O’Brien reaffirmed a commitment that all of the senior cadet champions would travel to Russia.
“The Central Council has selected a full team, i.e all champions, to represent Ireland in the forthcoming European Junior Championships AND A FULL TEAM WILL BE SENT,” he wrote.
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