Two young boxers who train at the same Barton Hill club have both taken away medals in a national competition. Tiah Ayton, 16, and Teo Miles, 15 now have seven medals between them.
The pair, who won the National Association of Boys and Girls Clubs Championships for their categories this month, are both part of the volunteer-run Barton Hill Boxing Club. The site, which was formerly the Dug Out Youth Club attended by Banksy, was saved from financial difficulties in 2017.
It trained its first national champion when Tyrese Miles won the Development Championships at aged 15. His younger brother Teo has now followed in his footsteps while Tiah, who lives in Kingswood, joined the club several years ago to follow ambitions of becoming a professional boxer.
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When she is not at college studying sport and sociology, Tiah is at the gym training. She said: “I get on with my coach, he's helped me to get through it all. He’s made me a better fighter.
“Winning feels good because it shows that all your hard work pays off. Hopefully I can be a pro boxer one day.”
Tiah, who previously won the Three Nations title, had been training in a range of martial arts before moving on to boxing. She had already won a world championship in kickboxing and won all the competitions she had entered previously in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but at 16 has become dedicated to boxing with her next goal being to win the world title.
Teo, who is now in Year 11 and studying for his GCSEs, plans to train in electrical engineering but will continue with boxing alongside his studies. Like many other young people who attend the club, Teo has learned much more than simply being able to throw a good punch.
Being inspired by his older brother and having his dad as one of the coaches meant that he was watching others train from a young age. He picked up a lot of his techniques through observation and then started to compete at 12 years old.
Teo said: "My brother was a big inspiration to me and my dad guided me in boxing. Since I’ve started boxing I’ve always wanted to compete.
“When I hit 12, I did my first nationals and I got disqualified but I came back the next year. I was young and I had anger issues but as I trained more, boxing taught me to have discipline.
“My next fight at the nationals I got a silver and then the following year I got a gold. I’m proud because I trained hard for it and it paid off.
“It’s a nice environment here, everyone’s just friends. Hopefully I will pass my GCSEs and do boxing alongside a course in electrical engineering.”
The club, which has a range of classes for adults and children as young as nine, not only provides a space for those who want to compete at national championships but provides training for those who get into boxing to improve their confidence, mental health, fitness and self control.
Carlton Miles, one of the coaches at the club, said he can see the difference in the young people after a few months of attending sessions. For some of the kids, being part of the club helps them move away from 'gang culture' while others may be getting bullied at school or going through personal trauma.
'Feels like a family'
Carlton said: “I did a little boxing when I was younger but I didn’t have the guidance, they couldn’t keep me in the gym. A lot of these kids can come to the gym but it’s also their outside environment, there’s a lot going on out there.
“A child could come in with a lack of confidence, they could be being bullied. Over a period of months it’s proven that they are a totally different child to when they first entered, their confidence comes out, that’s because of the environment that we’re in, no one judges or singles out anyone, everyone is made to feel welcome like a family.
“People who are caught up on the street involved in gang culture, it can also give them a sense of purpose and along with that comes discipline, respect for others, humbleness and how to carry yourself out in the community. That should become contagious because hopefully they will pass that on to whoever they’re with.
“Then you get people who come in who are struggling with mental health or have disabilities. I just think a boxing gym is the place to be for whatever you’re dealing with or not dealing with.
"There’s something about a boxing gym that is just different, I think, because of the level of respect people show each other in the gym. Tiah is a three-time national champion, a Three Nation champion but she’s not boasting with it, if anything she’s someone to look up to in the gym, it’s the same for Teo.”
Barton Hill ABC was set up in 2008 by Tom Foley alongside Dave Grant. Carlton Miles, Lee Allen and Mark Thomas joined the club as coaches in 2013 and rebuilt the gym with help from Hassan Siddiq, Alicja Dabrowska and Miley Connors.
Keeping the club going has been a struggle over the years and they found themselves in financial difficulty in 2017. It was supported by a group of local artists who wanted to save the boxing club for the community and preserve its history.
The pandemic presented an additional challenge for the club and the children and young people who were not able to attend during that time. But in 2022 the club has once again found its feet with regular sessions several days a week.
You can find them on Instagram @studentsofthegame or on their Facebook page, Barton Hill ABC.
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