THERE were a few eyebrows raised when the travelling party was announced for last month’s final World qualifier in Bangkok.
Not from those who had been working away in Abbotstown during the previous six weeks; the seven boxers whose Olympic dreams headed towards the last saloon. Nothing to do with Amy Broadhurst even, that inferno largely burning out following the Dundalk woman’s switch to Team GB.
Instead, it was the absence of another high-profile figure that sparked some concerned whispers – head coach Zaur Antia. Why wasn’t he there? Had something happened behind the scenes? This is Irish boxing after all, where drama was never too far from the surface.
This time, though, it was nothing of the sort.
Rather than travel out to Thailand, the Georgian opted to remain with the six athletes already qualified for Paris. Of course someone had to, but few expected it would be Antia.
From the outside in it appeared a bold call, but he didn’t think twice about placing full faith in Damian Kennedy’s ability to guide the team chasing Olympic spots – with any doubters silenced as the qualifier progressed.
Alongside coaches Lynne McEnery and James Doyle, the Toome man had led the camp from beginning to end, with Antia feeding in.
And boxers have spoken about the positive atmosphere created in the aftermath of a difficult last day in Milan when, with five standing just one win away from Paris, only Jude Gallagher qualified.
The proof, as always, is in the pudding. Had Ireland stumbled in Bangkok, questions would have been asked of Antia’s decision to stay at home.
But they didn’t – they excelled, with Daina Moorehouse, Jennifer Lehane, Grainne Walsh and Aidan Walsh taking the team total to 10, the joint largest Ireland have ever sent.
Tricia Heberle, current Irish high performance director, had conversations with Antia about the best way to approach a crucial period. But, for her, this was also about more than just the here and now.
“We are not just growing the athletes, I would like to think we are also growing staff as well,” she said.
“Zaur is the boss of technical/tactical, I’m the boss of system and making sure we do things in the right way, but we’re also looking at the future.
“There will be a day when Zaur maybe isn’t with Irish boxing, or when Zaur’s had enough, and we’ve got to make sure we are building a succession plan, and that there is a legacy from his time in the sport.”
“I don’t know, for me it just becomes the most normal thing in the world. I didn’t feel one ounce of pressure, not at all,” says Kennedy, still on cloud nine as he takes his seat in a Ballymena coffee shop days after the team’s return.
“I’ve had a great apprenticeship since 2014, so I’m ready for whatever challenge is put in front of me. It wasn’t daunting whatsoever, because I knew exactly what I had to do.
“We wanted a positive atmosphere and we got it. Technically, I knew I wasn’t going to improve that team much, I wasn’t going to focus on a lot of technical development in the short window of time we had, but we could improve them mentally, and we could improve them tactically, so that’s the angle we came from.
“Not once did they show me they were a little bit apprehensive of my position. They were happy I was involved, and they understood why Zaur put me in that position.
“I didn’t have imposter syndrome - I love the competition environment, that’s where I think I’m at my best.”
As for the heat that surrounded some of the selection issues leading into that final qualifier, most notably the decision not to give Broadhurst an assessment at 66 kilos, Kennedy is bullish months down the line.
“I knew the selections that we had made for this competition were the right ones, simply going on performances, how they were conducting themselves in training, their commitment, their injury status.
“Results speak for themselves, performances speak for themselves.”
And, like every boxer looking ahead to the start of the action in Paris this weekend, Kennedy has taken his own path to the greatest stage of all.
Working in construction, he had always followed boxing, appreciated the skills on show. He remembers the entire clan gathering around the TV to watch Michael Carruth’s gold medal-winning fight in Barcelona 32 years ago.
But, in the early days at least, Gaelic football was more his thing as he played a bit with Cargin – footsteps followed by Enda and Jamie down the line.
“Back then, there was no boxing in Toome, only football… though sometimes boxing and football amalgamated into one on the pitch,” he smiles.
Indeed, if it hadn’t been for Patsy Hurl, Kennedy might never have found his true calling 25 years ago.
Because it was the Ardboe man who first sounded out Cargin chairman James Cole about opening a boxing club in Toome. As soon as the green light came, Kennedy was in.
“I was over with my younger lads, training at Cargin, I walked in and the brackets were going up, so I went over to Patsy and chatted to him, asked him did he need a hand, told him ‘I’m always available’ – ‘come over on Tuesday night’, he says, and that was it.
“Him and another good friend of mine, Adrian McElhone, had a massive influence on my coaching career. They’re two very knowledgeable men about boxing.
“The first day I walked into that club, I knew this was something I wanted to do; something I really wanted to immerse myself in. As much as I enjoyed work, I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on building sites.”
And, with children Enda, Jamie and Chloe among those boxing to national standard,
Toome ABC went from strength to strength, with one memorable night at Ulster championship bringing eight winners back up the road.
“Just unbelievable memories, those days…”
As a result, Kennedy eventually progressed to the provincial scene when he and Stevie Kirk took a three-man team – his son Enda, Conor Doherty and Joe Fitzpatrick – to the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games.
Compared to the world of high performance he is used to in Dublin nowadays, where support staff have all angles covered day and daily, the coaching team bound for the Isle of Man were forced to innovate.
“There was no budget, so we trained the team in my club, or we trained the team in Holy Trinity, or Cairn Lodge. We used the Mary Peters track for our running sessions, we never had any strength and conditioning.
“I contacted Billy Walsh to see could we bring the guys down for a week to train with the youths and juniors; that was as good a preparation as we possibly could have had.”
Everything went smoothly as a result – except for Kennedy’s flight out.
“I had to go over in a four-seater plane that landed on a farm… high performance at its best!
“The plane actually had masking tape on the window, I’m not joking. Stevie and the three boxers flew out separately because I had trouble getting accreditation, so I couldn’t fly with the team, I had to go solo.
“I took this flight with a man called Hugh Haslett – I’ll never forget watching him walking across the runway with two jerry cans. My heart sank… what am I getting into here? It was actually his farm we landed on there too.
“Thankfully all was well that ended well, and the three boys won medals too.”
Since then, Kennedy has been involved at another Commonwealth Youth Games, two more senior Commonwealths – including the hugely successful 2022 Games in Birmingham - as well as European Championships, European Games and World Championships.
The Olympics is the last left to tick off. And, since first being asked down to Dublin, he has absorbed as much as possible from those around him.
“I was in there with Bernard Dunne when he just started [in 2017] and I learned so much from working alongside him - what a great man, a pure boxing man, very athlete-driven, athlete focused, and he shielded us from a lot of nonsense within the high performance as well, took the brunt of that himself.
“It’s a testament to his character that he absorbed all that. I learned so much in that period, but the icing on the cake is working alongside Zaur...”
At last, we come full circle.
Because Kennedy has earned the Georgian’s trust and respect during countless tough international camps far from home, to the point they are in constant contact, sometimes 10 times a day – sharing ideas, talking tactics and planning how to get the best from Ireland’s boxers.
And, as the start of Paris 2024 nears, Kennedy insists the team couldn’t be in better hands.
“In my opinion he’s the best technical coach in the world, without a shadow of a doubt. I steal loads of stuff from him, and then I’ll try and put my own spin on it. But no two days are the same with that man.
“That’s what sets him apart - his creativity. And he’s scenario-based, he runs a programme that is creative, it teaches adaptability. He’s over 60 years of age but he’s able to demonstrate like an 18-year-old man.
“It’s phenomenal to watch him in his state of flow, and he absolutely loves the sport - he’s completely in love with Irish boxing. He’s got a huge personality, when you see Zaur you kind of want to be in this company because he’s smiling and laughing.
“Like, even with the broken English, everybody fully understands him. He’s just a unique individual, and it’s a pleasure to be around him. He and I work so well together - we’re best friends now, and that’s important when you’re working in this kind of environment.
“This will be his fifth Olympics, my first, and we can’t wait to get going, because everything is possible in Paris. If our athletes perform, on their day they can beat anybody in the world, I have no problem saying that.”
