WHEN Stephanie Kernachan was born, women’s boxing was banned in the UK. The sport was only opened up to female fighters in this country in 1996 but it is now flourishing and the 23-year-old from Motherwell is determined to take full advantage of that.

Kernachan is already making significant strides. Last year, she became the first Scottish woman to win a GB Elite Championship, a victory she admits was a massive step, not only for her, but for all female boxers in Scotland.

“Becoming British champion was huge,” she says. “Scotland had never sent girls to the British Championships before – I think they thought we weren’t good enough, that we’d be embarrassing. So for me to go for the first time and win was amazing.”

Next weekend sees Boxing Scotland host its Elite Finals but Kernachan will not be fighting as she has a longer-term plan that is her priority, namely the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Women’s boxing was included in the Commonwealth Games for the first time at Glasgow 2014 but Team Scotland chose not to select any female fighters.

Kernachan’s progress suggests it is likely to be a different story in Gold Coast in two years’ time but in order for her to be there, she must move down a weight class. Her natural category is 54kgs but to compete in the Commonwealth Games, she must move down to 51kgs.

Reducing their weight is commonly acknowledged by boxers as the most challenging aspect of their sport and Kernachan is in wholehearted agreement with this.

“Over the past year, I’ve struggled with making weight,” she admits. “I don’t talk about it too often because you don’t want to give your opponent an advantage but it’s been hard.

“When I was younger, I could eat what I wanted and could still always make weight but now it’s much tougher.”

While it is ultimately up to Kernachan to control her weight, she has support which aids the process significantly. Earlier this month, she was awarded an Athlete Personal Award of £6,000 from sportscotland and she also has the support team at the Sportscotland Institute of Sport to turn to.

“Now I’m in the high-performance programme, I’ve been able to see a nutritionist as well as a physio, strength and conditioning coach and lifestyle coach so that’s been a great help,” Kernachan said. “The nutritionist can tell me what to do but I’ve had to make sure I’m in the right frame of mind to take on board what he says and follow through with it. It’s been a big lifestyle change for me because I’m pretty busy and so I’m often eating on the go and that’s when my weight would go up.

“This is all part of being more professional in every aspect of my life.

“It can be tough and I’m still getting used to it but the main thing is that I need to get down to 51kgs.” Kernachan describes herself as having been “a pretty sporty kid” but she never found anything she really wanted to stick at.

Then, one day, she decided she would try boxing. “I couldn’t find any clubs for women and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Can women even box?’,” she laughs.

At the age of 14, Kernachan discovered Newarthill Boxing Club and her older sister offered to take her along. It would be a stretch to say that she was welcomed with open arms immediately.

“I was the only girl there and they put me through absolutely everything to try and get rid of me,” she said. “They had me skipping, on the pads, on the bag and doing circuits

“I was so tired after it and they thought that would stop me turning up. But I loved it and I just kept going back. It was a bit scary at the start being the only girl and at first, my dad didn’t like the idea of me getting into boxing, but now he’s my biggest fan.”

Women’s boxing may be growing fast but in Scotland female fighters are still significantly outnumbered by the men. Kernachan has emerged as an important figurehead within her sport.

She recognises the significant role that boxing has played in her life in terms of improving her confidence and so is enthusiastic about more young people benefiting from the positive impact boxing can have.

Being a role model is something Kernachan has embraced with open arms and she acknowledges the vital part she can play in improving the sport in this country

“Particularly in the past year or so, younger fighters have been coming up to me and saying that they want to be as good as me and so I tell them that they definitely can be,” she says. “If you really want something then you can achieve it – that’s what I keep telling them.

“I feel like if I pass on everything I know to younger kids then the level of women’s boxing in Scotland will improve. And if others are getting better then that means I’ll need to up my game and that motivates me to keep improving.”