Friday, January 15, 2010

VICTORIA JAYCEES BOXING CLUB

VICTORIA JAYCEES BOXING CLUB

In 1976, the Victoria Athletic Association was formed and the three coaches for the club were
Mike Caird, Brian Zelley and Lou Bujdoso. As time passed, Lou Bujdoso would leave the VAA to form the Victoria Jaycees
Boxing club. Zelley, although on the board of the VAA, would help with some of the coaching. Later when the
VAA lost their building and gym, they would train with the Jaycees.

by 1980, the Victoria Jaycees would be the key club in Greater Victoria with the Victoria Athletics limited to two key boxers
while the majority of boxers in Victoria fought under the Victoria Jaycees banner. Lou would leave to promote
Professional boxing but was replaced by the likes of Mike Sartori and Paul Deluca sr. The first major achievement of the
Victoria Jaycees boxing was the hosting of thee 1980 BC Diamond Belt Championships. The VAA would help, but it was primarily
a Victoria Jaycees affair which would be continued in subsequent years.

For most of the Eighties it would be the Victoria Jaycees that would be the key player in amateur boxing in
Greater Victoria and the Victoria Athletic Boxing Club and the coaches would fade away until a renewal after the
1994 Commonwealth Games. MIKE SARTORI would be the prime coaching force during that time period and would also be one of the first committee members for the Boxing Committee of the Victoria Commonwealth Games Society in preparation
for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

EX- BOXERS of the VICTORIA JAYCEES

There are a number of boxers that competed under the banner of the Victoria Jaycees, one of many of interest was
RON OGDEN who came from nowhere to win in the 1985 BC Diamond Belt competition held at Victoria's
"Lansdowne Junior High School".