Athlone boxer Oisin (14) makes Irish squad for European Schools Championships
A 14-year-old Athlone boxer who won his first national title earlier this year will now be travelling to Slovenia as part of the Irish team competing in the European Schools Championships in August.
Oisin Donoghue was this week named on the Irish team, at 80kg, for the tournament taking place in Maribor between August 15 and 26.
Before then, he and his Irish teammates will be flying to Poland to take part in a multi-nations training camp from August 8 to 12.
An Athlone Community College student, Oisin is from Bower View in the town and is a son of Kevin and Danielle Donoghue.
His coach at Athlone Boxing Club, Rory Parkes, said Oisin's upcoming appearance at the European championships was "a fantastic achievement," especially as he only took up boxing a year ago.
"It's his first year in boxing, so he has exceeded all expectations in terms of what he's achieving in the sport," said Rory.
Earlier this year Oisin won a Leinster championship in Enniscorthy, and he then went on to win the national title at Boy 3, 79kg, in Dublin's National Stadium in April.
One of his attributes is his exceptional height. Rory explained that Oisin just turned 14 this year, but stands at 6 foot 9 inches.
"He's certainly one of the tallest boxers that I've ever seen in the sport," said the coach. "For his opponents, he's a very awkward boxer to come up against.
"Because of his height he is hard to beat, and hard to hit, but he also has a lot of good boxing skills as well. He has a long reach, and good footwork, so he has lots of positive attributes in terms of his boxing pedigree.
"For the last two months or so, along with the training he's been doing in the club, with myself and Joe Ward, he's also been going up every weekend to Dublin to train with the best boxers in the country in the high performance team."
Rory said the upcoming training camp in Poland should provide Oisin with "top-class coaching and sparring with boxers from different countries around Europe."
"After that he arrives back in Ireland, has a three day break at home in Ireland, and then he jets off to Slovenia to box for Ireland in the European Schools Championships."
Oisin was named by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) as part of an Irish team which consists of 15 male and 12 female boxers.