England Boxing hosts National Officials Seminar

England Boxing has staged its first National Officials Seminar, bringing together officials from across the country to sharpen skills and prepare for the 2025/26 season.

The event, held on Saturday, 30th August at the British Army’s Kendrew Barracks near Grantham, Lincolnshire, was split into two sessions.

The morning programme took place in a lecture theatre and focused on key updates and education, including rule changes, Emergency Action Plans, the officials’ pathway, and an open Q&A.

In the afternoon, attention turned to practical training in the Army’s boxing gym, covering refereeing and judging procedures, supervisor duties, timekeeping, and an introduction to computer scoring.

As part of the day, England Boxing’s Head of Compliance, Anthony Sheppard, delivered bystander training designed to give officials the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour in and around the sport. This included an exploration of the Five D’s theory and interactive group discussions.

The Seminar was jointly led by Mike Hemming and Geoff Cannell, with Hemming, England Boxing’s Lead Officials Educator, highlighting its importance: “A lot of officials have the summer off and then get back into the season from September, so it’s a great opportunity for them to refresh their skills.

“If everyone goes away from today having learned something, then it will be deemed a success.”

The feedback from those in attendance was overwhelmingly positive, with officials valuing both the chance to reflect and the opportunity to get hands-on experience.

London region official, Ramona Moldovan, said: “I think the programme has been very well received by everyone. It has been great to sit down and reflect a bit on our day-to-day role and how important we are.”