'It's a scary thing leaving the job and pursuing this really big, big dream'

Still only at the foothills or her boxing career Jenny Lehane knows a thing or two about what is involved when she steps under the lights to take on an opponent. She knows about the walk from the dressing room and how even then, at that late stage, her mind can play tricks. How negative thoughts, cautious thinking, can seek to bring her down.

"A lot of demons can get into your head when you are getting ready for a fight or when you are walking to the ring. It's about putting your thoughts away and saying you have done the work. It's about going out and showing you can do the job and just enjoy it - and I really do enjoy it. That comes across when I'm fighting I think, particularly when I'm fighting well."

As well as a boxer Jenny is a teacher. The 23-year old worked in St Mary's National School, Ashbourne and when the school year concluded a few weeks ago she walked out of the classroom and into new, more uncertain phase of her life.

She hopes to be back in the classroom at some stage in her life but it won't be this September. Instead she has opted to focus full-time on becoming the best boxer she can be. It's a radical move but she's determined to give everything she can to honing her skills and achieving her big ambition - to represent Ireland at the 2024 Olympic Games.

"It's a scary thing leaving the job and pursuing this really big, big dream but I've always said I am not afraid of failing. What I am afraid of is looking back in a few years time with regret and wondering what I could have been and what I could have done. I don't want to have to do that."

So the friendly, affable, 23-year-old is striking out. She's going to go for it and seek to make her mark in a hard sport that was described as "the toughest and lonest in the world" by Frank Bruno. There's another quote that relates to Jenny Lehane's situation and is attributed one of the best of all time - Muhammad Ali. "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing."

Jenny Lehane is prepared to step outside the comfort zone; to take that risk.

ASHBOURNE

Jenny Lehane never had a burning ambition to be a boxer. It sort of happened, her journey into the ring was helped by the fact she grew up immersed in martial arts, particularly taekwondo, the Korean discipline characterised by punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques.

She is one of eight in a family, including her mother and father, Pauline and Seamus Lehane. Jenny is "bang in the middle", the fourth oldest of the six young people in the family "or the third youngest" she quickly adds with a laugh. From the time she was four she was involved in martial arts. It became something of a family tradition.

"My family is big into taekwondo and that's how I started out in combat sport. My oldest brother (Seamus) started in taekwondo when he was six. Younger kids in a family tend to follow the sport their older siblings are involved in and that's what I did. Taekwondo is a big thing in our house. At one stage all eight of us were training. We were all involved with River Valley Taekwon-Do club."

Jenny turned out to be pretty good at it too. She began competing internationally at 15 and became senior European Champion in 2018 and 2019. She won silver at the 2013 Junior World championships and bronze in the seniors four years later. She also took part in international kick-boxing competitions. Her sister Sarah is a major presence in taekowndo. She is a world champion and won European titles several times.

Yet it was only when she went to Dublin City University Jenny started to become a boxer; at least that section of the sport governed by the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

"I never planned to pursue a boxing career, but there was a boxing club in college. I had always wanted to try it out and in my second year in college I just went down and gave it a few goes - I think at the time I was taking a break from taekwondo training. I instantly fell in love with it and just kept going from there."

She worked with coach Derek Ahern and advanced quickly. She loves the way boxing can bring her "to a different zone."

She's now "three or four years" boxing and she has achieved quite a lot as well. She became Irish National Elite champion and Celtic Box Cup Elite champion in 2021. She also performed well in tournaments in Sweden and London. She has represented Ireland at the Nicolae-Linca Golden Belt multi-nations tournament in Romania and won a bronze medal, among other feats.

She has progressed in the sport in other ways. After winning the National Elite Championships she was asked to join the High Performance Unit at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown. It was a vindication of her hard work; a chance to train with the best in the sport, to prepare properly for bouts.

Having qualified as a teacher she worked in St Mary's for a year, covering for another teacher on maternity leave but she came to the conclusion that to achieve her "ultimate aim of qualifying for the Olympics in Paris in 2024" she would need to go full-time. So she took the bold decision put her everyday career on hold.

"I'm going to follow this Olympic dream and try and turn it into a reality, I'm going to put all my eggs in one basket and go for it really. I have my degree and completed my induction period as a teacher. Hopefully I'll be able to come back in a few years to the teaching with some memories and stories to share with my future classes."

FUNDING

There is a new challenge in all of this. How to sustain herself. She's looking for people, business outlets, to sponsor her.

"I'll be living at home, my family will support me in that regard, house, food on the table and so on, it's the extra things I would need in terms of recovery, nutrition, physio, international camps funding."

There is some government funding but there's a strict criteria surrounding all that and as she is only relatively new on the boxing scene she needs to build up a profile.

"I'm looking for businesses to come on board and join me on the journey, follow along as I go," is how she puts it.

Her immediate target is to become the National Elite Irish champion at 54 kilos. That would put her in a strong position to be selected on Irish teams to take part in international competitions - and there she will be able to pick up the points she needs to qualify for the Olympics. That's the plan.

"Next year is qualifying year. The qualifying part is through a points system, how you finish in different competitions is worth a different number of points. If you get a bronze you get so many points, silver also. Gold is obviously worth more points."

While so many teachers around the country are enjoying their summer holidays, Jenny Lehane, has already thrown herself into her 'new career.' She has just taken part in an international training camp in Belfast. Later on there will be further camps, more competitions.

She's ready for what is required. Ready to tackle the "demons" that stand in her way of achieving her cherished ambition. She knows something about what it takes to dispel those demons and really go for it.