FOR most athletes who are participating at the elite level in sport, it is important to have focus, determination and a belief in your own ability. None more so than the sport of boxing.
Scotland’s own “champ” Hannah Rankin is a case in point and her recent social media release brought this home to me.
Hannah wrote: ‘‘I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. Every little step, every decision we’ve made as a team, every opportunity we’ve taken in this sport has all been to fulfil my goal of reaching the top and to get me one step closer to becoming World Champion. Why do something if you don’t intend to be the best?”
“Sometimes our decisions may have been questioned as a team but come June 15 in Scotland, we intend to have that dream realised and I will become Scotland’s first female world champion.”
READ MORE: The positive and negative impacts of social media for Scottish Women in Sport
In boxing the competition is played out months before any meet in the ring. It’s a really important part of the event – calling out your opponent, psyching yourself up and sowing just that little seed of doubt into the opposition’s camp.
It’s a big year for Hannah, who will fight Sarah “Savage” Curran, a top fighter from America for the IBO Super Welterweight World Title at The Lagoon in Paisley.
Outside the ring, Hannah, who hails from Glen Luss and is a direct descendent of Rob Roy MacGregor, is a classical musician who plays the bassoon. She is obviously a very talented young women who is so comfortable in both worlds, which to many are poles apart. It’s a summer of sport for fans who want to see some of Scotland’s top female athletes. We have football, boxing, netball and to name a few, but there will be other sports shouting at this, saying “What about my sport!”.
With all this choice there really can’t be any acceptable excuse for not supporting women in sport in 2019. Go on – you know you want to and helping build a strong fan base is critical for the future of women in sport and your attendance at these events will help do just that.
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