Hagley Year 12 student Dylan O’Neill has his sights set on big boxing dreams, and on meeting him it is easy to believe he will get there…

Dylan started at Hagley at the beginning of the year after transferring from Catholic Cathedral College. The decision to change schools was made around finding a better fit for Dylan as well as Hagley providing Dylan with flexibility around his training schedule. The upshot is he is loving it and is maximises his time to train in the mornings.

Dylan has some big goals. His career goal is to work in boxing as a coach, trainer or nutritionist. The big incentive for all this training is for Dylan to box at World Championships in the future. Dylan wasn’t backward in coming forward when he told me he has a good chance of achieving this. His confidence is infectious and I am sure he will give his best effort to make that happen.

So one can’t help but wonder – why boxing? Dylan’s sporting career started with BMX where he competed as a boy. One of his friends in BMX used to box for fitness and Dylan went along one day and as we say, ‘The rest is history’. He loved it. Six months later and he is boxing rather than spending all his time and energy on a BMX. He loves that the more you put in the more you get out of boxing, and you get the feeling he has even surprised himself with how quickly he took to the sport and the intensive training that goes with it.

Dylan is very good at describing his boxing style to me. He informs me that he has a fast and awkward style which can catch his more experienced opponents off guard. He describes these opponents as being patient and technique driven; in contrast his fellow boxers call Dylan the flea and a scrapper as he just gets stuck into the fight. This style has seen him rocket up the rankings. He relies heavily on his speed, fitness and ability to just go and go. I picture an annoying little boxer who is tough and in his opponent's face. Probably literally.

Dylan is also quick to point out to me that boxing is very safe. Young boxers are managed well by the referees, and fights are decided on by points. The fight is stopped if there is an indication one of the fighters is really struggling. Although he assures me it is safe he is quick to point out that his Mum hates to watch but Dad loves it.

A typical week in Dylan’s life would include four nights a week in the gym, sparring. When he isn’t training he will be running, skipping and doing bag work. He also juggles full time study at Hagley and prepares for fights. Dylan has trained for and competed in seven fights this year and as we were speaking he tells me he is fighting this weekend.

With the Olympics fresh in our minds, I would bet on Dylan O’Neill to pull on a black singlet one day and scrap and annoy opponents from all over the world. Watch this space!

I always ask new students to Hagley what their advice would be to other new students. Dylan’s answer was very practical – “Keep an eye on the time, no bells can be hard to get used to”.

Thanks, Dylan. This really is one of the best parts of working in a school, meeting such talented young people.

Rowan Milburn