ISKA World Champion kickboxer Hayley Keeley trained at the Learning Hub in Limerick where she was honored at the Homecoming event. Photo: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
Hayley Keeley is welcomed back as the newly crowned ISKA World Champion and receives a heroic welcome from her Hub Martial Arts colleagues
Hayley Keeley was welcomed back to the gym on Tuesday, April 23rd as the newly crowned ISKA World Champion and received a heroic welcome from her Hub Martial Arts colleagues.
Hayley has been training behind closed doors for three months in preparation for her fight against Marisha Christie on Saturday, April 13th at England's Cannock Chase Center, which is the first time she has been training since she was seven years old. This has been my goal since I started.
Now 24 years old, Haley proudly carries the ISKA World Champion belt, securing his long-term goal of becoming the world's number one kickboxer.
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Speaking to I Love Limerick on her return, Hayley said: Me and Paul and everyone at the gym have been imagining it for so long that even though we know it's going to happen, hearing people actually say it now is insane. there is no. I like that. ”
Hayley talks about her martial arts journey which began around 16 years ago when she met her current trainer Pure O'Brien while training with the late PJ Bennis, who was a huge influence on Limerick's martial arts scene. Told.
“I think I was eight years old when I first started martial arts with PJ Bennis. Paul would have trained with PJ as well,” Hayley told I Love Limerick.
She highly valued her experience at Hub Martial Arts, saying: This is a great club with great people. And everyone who walks through the door, we're all one big family. ”
It was a proud moment for her parents, Mike and Karen, with Mike saying: “The whole family is so proud of what Hayley has achieved. It's incredible. She's dreamed of this since she was little. , and she is now 24 years old, all those dreams have come true.” Realize. ”
Haley is an inspiration to the younger members of Hub Martial Arts, which now has a world champion to look up to.
Mike told Richard Lynch, “He's a role model, that's a big deal,'' he continued. Her next generation is looking up to her and worshiping her, and we couldn't be more proud. ”
Mr Haley, who is proud to be from Moyross, said being from the area made the achievement “even more special”.
She told I Love Limerick's Richard Lynch: “I love Limerick. I think that's what makes this story even more special, that not everything was just handed to us. Grafted from absolute bottom to top. And this is just the beginning. ”
Seven Habu Martial Arts students have qualified for the ISKA World Championships to be held in Vienna, Austria this October, and the club has organized a fundraiser to help cover the competition's entry fees.
On GoFundMe, the group wrote: “As you can imagine, this comes at a significant cost to our students and we hope that our supporters will support us in any way they can.
“We are trying to raise funds to give our students the opportunity to represent their country in the most prestigious kickboxing tournament in the world.”
Paul O'Brien told I Love Limerick about the club's humble beginnings and how it all started as he showed off his footballing skills outside the Learning Hub building. It puts into perspective an incredible feat in a short period of time.
“It was an old sewing room, and I asked my boss at the time, Jennifer Maloney Ward, if she could move some sewing machines out and teach two young people.
“So it started from there. Two young people were having so much fun that they started telling their friends about it. And from those two people to now having 150 to 200 people in the gym. .”
Hub Martial Arts is currently fundraising to compete in this year's World Championships in Vienna. You can donate. here
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Photo: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
