Judy Murray OBE and the team behind her ITV show encouraging girls into sport visited Manchester as part of its mission to encourage girls into sport.
Boxing trainer Joe Gallagher was joined at his gym on Rochdale Road by Natasha Jonas, the first female boxer to represent Great Britain in an Olympic Games, mixed martial arts star Molly McCann and the team from Judy's new ITV series Driving Force.
The show is about levelling up the playing field and introducing girls and young women to sport as a career, and in this case boxing.
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The team delivered a masterclass for 31 young women and girls from Manchester, including 11 students of The Joe Gallagher Academy.
Judy, renowned tennis coach and mother of two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, said: "We are running this series of masterclasses to showcase our own sports and encourage people to get involved in taking part or delivering it.
"We need more women in the workforce and more mums to get involved locally at clubs.
"This is about raising awareness and doing something about it beyond the series.”
One of the participants Paige Howarth said: “I want to be the best. I started quite late, I have only been boxing two years, so I started later than my opponents.
"But it's that drive, when you find something that you are good at and that you are passionate about, you just want to give it your all, and have no regrets."
And Millie Backhouse said: "My driving force is making my family proud, doing myself proud, and proving the people who told me I can’t wrong.
"My inspiration in Natasha Jonas and Tyson Fury, their story’s are amazing and I’d like to be just like them."
The second series of Driving Force aired this week on ITV4, ITV and ITV Hub.
In the show Judy, a campaigner for equality in sport, meets seven top female sport stars including former track and field athlete Denise Lewis OBE and Commonwealth Games-winning former England netball head coach Tracey Neville, and learns of their trials and tribulations as well as their moments of glory.
The women share their tips for reaching the top and also introduce the 'driving forces' who have helped them along the way.
Series creator and director Rosemary Reed said about taking the show on the road: “It has been an incredible day talking tennis at a school in Liverpool with Judy, and now boxing at Joe Gallagher’s Academy here in Manchester.
"We have talked to young girls about all sorts of opportunities in sport, helping them if they want to be a professional athlete, want to be a coach or a sports physio.
"We had a host of Q&As and the girls didn’t know half of the opportunities that were available to them, or they hadn't been pushed to look at those opportunities."
Rosemary added: "“It was great for these young girls to get the opportunity to meet the likes of Natasha Jonas and some other incredible young female boxers that are coming up through the ranks who are real trailblazers and give me such enthusiasm looking at them.
"It's been an incredible day, and just the start of our tours that we hope to do many more of in the future.”
The workshop began with Joe talking about what it takes to become a professional boxer, the dedication needed to succeed and how best to pursue the ambition.
He said: "Its hugely important for things like this Driving Force workshop happening today.
"You can feel the buzz and the electricity with the girls and its great that Judy and Driving Force came down to see us at the Academy.
“It isn’t often that people at the top come down and see what is happening at grassroots and this is where the seeds are being planted for the next generation, for the next Olympic cycle, for the next Katie Taylor and Natasha Jonas.
"Seeing and hearing from Driving Force will inspire these young girls and help show them what is possible.”
Natasha, who made history in 2009 by becoming the first female boxer to compete for GB Boxing and again by becoming the first female British boxer to compete at an Olympic Games at London 2012, talked to the group about life in the ring.
“I think events like this are really important to empower, promote, engage and celebrate young females in sport and also their male counterparts that help them achieve success and achieve their dreams," she said.
