Carl Pesticcio
Carl Pesticcio – A long-term volunteer of Welsh Boxing
Volunteering is core to sport and represents a pillar in the boxing community.
Volunteers help, support and allow our sport to thrive, giving young boxers the opportunities to showcase their talents and use the sport for change and for good.
Carl Pesticcio is a familiar face in our community, having been a long-term volunteer who has amassed a lot of experience doing so. He has told Welsh Boxing about his volunteering journey.
“I’ve been in boxing for some time! The sport has been in my life since 1969, when I joined Prince of Wales ABC at the age of eight. A turbulent few years after that saw me ruled out of fighting but then later ruled fit, although by then I’d already become a qualified coach and stuck around to help out.
“After my career reboot came to an end, I eventually got all my coaching qualifications and went on to become Chairman of the club, and that’s when I got involved with Welsh Boxing on a voluntary basis – attending meetings as a club representative, becoming a Team Manager to look after boxers when they compete away from home, and then doing things like organising events, and so on!”
Carl explained the benefits he feels that volunteering brings.
“Volunteering has led to me to some fantastic opportunities,” he said. “I eventually got involved on a British and then International level, which allowed me to travel the world – which I’ve brought back to boxing here.”
Looking back, Carl commented that “it was just fantastic to stay involved in boxing.
“The sport just gets to you, gets in your blood, once you start it’s hard to walk away from it.
But for me, one of the best things about volunteering is simply seeing young kids achieve and the pleasure you feel from helping them fulfil their potential. It’s such an important tool for staying healthy in body and in mind, and I just find giving something back to boxing so rewarding for myself.
“I was really well looked after as a youngster,” Carl reminisced, “even when I couldn’t box; my coach and mentor, Tommy George, looked after me massively – he was a long-term volunteer and my role model. I never forgot what he did and always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Carl continued to explain that the work of volunteers is simply vital.
“It’s a lot of hard work – all the event organising and running – and bodies like Welsh Boxing need all the help they can get from volunteers,” he said. “For me, it’s just a pleasure to see boxing in Wales continue and thrive – it’s a better feeling than boxing myself!
“There are so many benefits to volunteering – it’s a hobby, it’s support to youth, it’s a feeling of reward and, to be part of a successful organisation like Welsh Boxing gives you memories and friendships that you’ll keep for the rest of your life.”
Get in contact with the Welsh Boxing team if you’d like to enquire into volunteering!