'It's about time': Female boxing makes its debut at the Canada Games

There won't be any P.E.I. athletes when female boxing makes it debut at the Canada Winter Games, but people in the sport hope young girls on the Island will be inspired by what they see and set their sights on the next Games in 2027.

Tracy Stretch is the boxing sport lead on the sport organization committee for the 2023 Games.

She made boxing history in 1995 when she represented P.E.I. as the first woman to compete in the first women's national amateur boxing competition, bringing home a bronze medal — but she was not able to compete at the Canada Games.

"It was a little disappointing because I thought, why not? I'm able to do it at a national level. I'm able to represent my province in regional competitions. Why not at the Canada Games level?" Stretch said.

"At the time in 1995, boxing wasn't included as an Olympic sport ... for females," said Stretch. Female boxing made its debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

"When I heard that boxing was going to be a part of these Canada Games, I was like, it's about time."

'There were no females'

Cassie Watts recently won a silver medal in boxing at the Brampton Cup, the largest Canadian amateur boxing tournament in the country.

At 31, she is now out of the age range to compete at the Canada Games, but she still vividly remembers as a teenager training in boxing wondering why she wasn't able to compete at the event.

"When I was training in Charlottetown with boxing, all my teammates were males, there were no females," Watts said. 

"I just remember watching them getting ready for Canada Games, and how badly I wanted to be a part of that at the time. And now that it's official that females are involved, it it just makes me so happy to see that," she said.

I think it does take a certain type of athlete to want to be involved with a contact sport like boxing as a female.— Cassie Watts

Watts said the sport can be very male-dominant.

"It's hard to see females come in and stick with it. I think it does take a certain type of athlete to want to be involved with a contact sport like boxing as a female," Watts said.

'They're so pumped'

Taylor Perry has been in the sport for eight years and coaches an all-female group at the KO-ED Boxing Academy in Charlottetown.

None of her boxers had the level of experience needed to compete at the 2023 Canada Games, but she's hopeful for 2027.

"I've been talking with the young girls and they're so pumped," Perry said.

"Some of them are volunteering, so they'll be able to watch a lot of the boxing, but I think it'll make a huge impact just for them to watch and see what they could potentially become in the future.… Hopefully it really inspires them to keep pushing and driving for that goal."

Destiny Perry, 19, has been boxing for four years, and said she's inspired by the competitors coming to the Games.

"To see women in there, especially coming from small towns especially, or countries like Canada," Perry said.

"To see them getting in the ring and be like, oh wow, I could do that too ... it's not just a male sport."

"Honestly, before I started boxing, I didn't really see a lot of women in it. Like when you see it on TV, it's mostly men that are fighting," said Genevieve Roach, 15. 

"When I come in here, I see Taylor and everyone, and it's really good to see women going into a sport that typically men are in."

It's really good to see women going into a sport that typically men are in.​​​​​— Genevieve Roach, 15

At 13, Emma Campbell could potentially compete at the next Canada Games.

She plans to attend the competition to get a first-hand look.

"Just to see what I can do, to see what they're doing and help myself get better so I can actually do it too," Campbell said.

"I just really love this sport so much, and I want to get my name out there so I can box and have more opportunities to do so."

Female boxing will debut in Summerside, P.E.I., in Week 2 of the Canada Games.

When it does, Stretch plans to be ringside.

"I'll probably be like a kid in a candy store and super, super excited. I already get giddy inside knowing that finally it's happening and it's happening here in Prince Edward Island," she said.

"This is a huge, historic moment for female boxing in Canada and I'm more than thrilled to have it happen here on home ground."