Mental preparation key for boxing restart – Ninvalle

With many sports starting to regain their fluency, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, has laid out some prerequisites for the resurgence of local amateur boxing.

Since December 2019, many local boxers have not had the opportunity to trade punches in real competition. A number of local amateur pugilists have represented Guyana on the international stage since then, but on the local front, action has been stagnant.

Probed by this publication about what his restart plan would entail for this sporting discipline, GBA President Steve Ninvalle highlighted that owing to the nature of the sport, they would have to await a controlled COVID-19 situation.
“Yes, but again, we still have to. Although I said in my personal capacity I would want to say that there’s a decline in the number of cases, what is going on with COVID-19, we still have to wait to have that greenlight with the National Task Force,” he began on the topic.
Ninvalle went on to say, “The thing is that boxing is a full contact sport. It’s not like other sports, it’s not like cricket, where you have 11 people on the field, one man is this way and the other one is till there. It’s not like that, (in cricket) people hardly touch each other, you may touch the ball, but you’re not touching each other. In boxing, you have to be very close, even the referee in boxing is very close.”
In the meantime, Ninvalle disclosed that boxing is one of those sports to utilise the services of the National Sports Commission’s (NSC’s) psychologist.
“So, we have to await that, but we still keep preparation, and mental preparation is the important thing. And that’s why I’ve engaged the service of the National Sports Commission.”
Still on the benefits of the psychologist, the GBA boss noted that not only would it ensure boxers are mentally ready for a restart, but also assist in their mental state during the layoff.
Ninvalle explained his reasoning, saying, “I think that of itself need some mental supervision. Some people may become depressed and not fighting. ‘Should I fight again?’ ‘I’m seeing World Championship boxing, but we’re not fighting,’ So, we’ve sought the services of the psychologists, and I think she’s doing an excellent job up to now,” he remarked.