Kaci Crowley won gold at the European Schoolgirls Championships in Albena, Bulgaria at the weekend in superb style. 
Kaci competing for Ireland in her first major international competition scored conclusive victories over Romanian, Italian and Russian opponents en route to winning her gold medal.
Erne Boxing Club’s Head Coach and Kaci’s father, Sean Crowley, who was watching at ringside advised: “The club were just extremely proud that Kaci had been selected to represent Ireland at these championships and although we believed that if she boxed to her potential that she could win gold, it was still very surreal that she actually did it.
“We would have been over the moon with just a medal at the start of the tournament as the standard of boxing was so high. But she raised her game and improved with every contest and was truly outstanding.”
Despite entering the ring nervous Crowley got off to a flying start against Romania’s Maria Luisa Simulescu in the 57kgs quarter-finals. Several strong backhand leads rocked the head back of Simulescu in the opener and the continuous onslaught of punches had the Romanian in trouble throughout. In round two, Crowley continued to punch with precision and again several hard and accurate backhand punches had her opponent subdued.
In the final round Simulescu thought back gamely and she outworked Crowley as the Erne favorite began to tire but Crowley again finish strong before taking a wide 5-0 unanimous points win.
In the semi-final Crowley was pitted against Italy’s Rosalia Cataldo. The Italian with height and reach advantages got off to a better start as Crowley need time to adjust to her opponent. Crowley landed with some good shots but was being outworked early on. However, as the round drew to a close she landed with four clean and unanswered punches to establish control.
In round two, Crowley started where she left off hurting her opponent with solid shots and forcing the referee to administer a standing count. The Italian legs had gone, and contest should have been stopped there and then but the referee order the combatants to box on. However, the contest was over after Crowley’s next attack, a three-punch combination rocked Cataldo again forcing the referee to administer another count and call an immediate halt to the contest.
Crowley then progressed to meet Russia’s Sofia Pelevina in the final. Although team Russia had dominated the tournament so far with 11 of the 12 final berths occupied by a Russian boxer, Crowley showed no fear of her opponent.
Roared on by a frantic Irish support Kaci got off to a great start landing solid backhands and right hooks to take the opener, her dominance was underlined by three of the five judges scoring the opening round 10-8 in her favour.
The second session was much closer and far more competitive as Pelevina upped her work rate and gallantly tried to out fight Crowley. But Kaci used a combination of great footwork to evade her opponent’s attack and then let the hands go whenever in close to maintain her advantage. Uncertain how the second-round was scored Crowley started the final session as if she was behind and tore into the Russian boxer from the started. Once again she landed with the better shots throughout, then one big punch suddenly rocked her opponent to her boots forcing a standing count and sealing the win.
The judges once again returned a wide unanimous points decision 5-0 in favor Crowley who became the club’s first European Champion in the process. 
Whilst Kaci Crowley was making great waves on the International scene, on the domestic front Mark Kells and Cameron Suttle won gold and silver respectively at the Boys & Girls Clubs (formerly CYP’s) Northern Ireland championships in Downpatrick, Co Down.
Kells won his second successive Northern Ireland title winning the Junior (Under 17’s) 75kgs by way of walkover when his prospective opponent withdrew from the competition.
Suttle was pitted against Antrim’s very experienced Lee McKee (The Star Belfast ABC) in the Junior (Under 17’s) 60kgs final. All three rounds were extremely competitive with Suttle going forward and forcing the action and McKee boxing smartly on the backfoot.
This was Suttle’s only second outing in Open Class competition and club coaches Sean Crudden and Paul Cassidy both felt that he was getting the better of things. McKee landed with some good clean shots on the move but Suttle also picked his shots well and had the higher punch output. However, the judges favoured McCabe’s cleaner work and Suttle had to settle for a well-earned silver. 
Erne Boxing Club coach Paul Cassidy advised: “Cameron boxed extremely well and is improving all the time. He will have learned from today’s contest and gained confidence knowing that he can compete at open class level.” 
Sean Crowley concluded: “The Erne Boxing Club wish to acknowledge and thank the Fermanagh Trust and Citynet Lloyds Brokers who generously financially supported the club with the addition training costs and equipment so that Kaci could prepare correctly for these championships and we also sincerely thank all other sponsors for their kind donations.”