​Tragedy to triumph for inspirational teenage boxer Shaniece Robinson

​Oak Leaf ABC member Shaniece, created history when lifting gold at the National Stadium in Dublin, becoming the first female boxer from Derry city to win the Irish Girl One (47kgs) title.

Making that achievement all the more remarkable for the young Brandywell girl was the fact she did it to a backdrop of family grief and adversity.

Shaniece's uncle Andy - 'her biggest supporter' - died suddenly at the age of 36 in September 2023 in a devastating blow to the family.

Andy had a 'massive impact' on Shaniece who was first introduced to boxing at the age of eight and she promised to bring home the Irish title in his memory.

And yet just days before her semi-final bout at the National Stadium the St Cecelia's first year student suffered another blow when she received the devastating news that her great grandfather had passed away having said her final goodbyes two days previously before making her way down to Dublin for the tournament.

After a blistering semi-final victory against Munster champion Mary Harty (Paulstown) where the referee stopped the contest in the first round, Shaniece and her father wasted no time in getting back up the road to Derry to attend her great grandad's wake.

At that point her father was preparing to ‘pull the plug’ on her Irish title dream given the burden of her great grandfather's death and the recent tragedy of her uncle's passing.

However, after discussing the situation with family members and her coaches, they returned to Dublin where Shaniece would return to the ring to create a little bit of local history.

It was a rollercoaster of emotions for her mum Danielle and her father but Shaniece held her emotions in check to have her hand raised in victory and 'made a lot of happy hearts in the family'.

"My brother passed away and it had a massive impact on the family. He was just 36 years-old. So Shaniece has gone through a lot of emotions on her journey to winning the title," explained her father Shaun.

"My brother had a massive impact on her and she always had it in her head that she would rattle on and do it for her auntie and her grandad. He would've been her biggest supporter, my brother."

It was an inspirational performance from the youngster with the world on her shoulders but she nearly didn't get the opportunity as her father wanted to protect her from the added pressures of having to perform at the National Stadium after receiving such devastating news.

She dug deep into her reserves, showing admirable determination, passion and skill to emerge as champion.

"The week before we were going down to Dublin we found out the news that her [great] grandfather was dying. So I rang around to the club and told them; 'you're never going to believe it, I'm going to have to pull the plug on Dublin. I got chatting to my wife and she said; 'naw we'll head on down'.

"We said our goodbyes on the Monday. We got to Dublin on Monday night and got the phone call to say her grandad had died. “So we came back up on the Wednesday after her semi-final and came back up for the wake. Drove back down on Thursday to fight in the final on Friday. So she's been through a rollercoaster to be honest.

"She didn't show a lot of emotions but obviously it was there. She concentrated on her boxing. With everything that was going on in the background, she managed to put it all to the back of her mind as much as she could and concentrate on the boxing. For someone so young, she held all her emotions together well.

"I was set on pulling her out but chatting to a few people in our family circle and people at the club, they said; 'Shaun you can't do that. She's going down there to win the Irish title’.

"Whenever it's your wain you have a bit of belief but you also have that doubt because of the luck we were having. My brother and then losing a grandad, I just thought this isn't happening.

"I just couldn't imagine the weight she had on her shoulders or how she was feeling before she went in the ring. For the last six or seven months everything has been awful in the family, with Danielle's grandad and losing my brother, six or seven months ago. I just thought the worst but it's been a rollercoaster."

It was a proud moment when she edged victory over Swinford's Roisin Sheerin in the 47kg decider and when she returned to Brandywell as Irish champion, it brought some much needed joy back in the lives of her grieving family members.

"She made a lot of happy hearts in the family," said her father. "For the likes of my parents, I hadn't seen them smiling in so long and coming back that weekend seeing my ma and da smiling, it was great for what she did.

"We're still on cloud nine here, we're buzzing. It's some achievement - unbelievable! And fair play to her. She's put in the graft, she's worked for it and knew what she had to do to get it."

Shaniece, who received a guard of honour from her stablemates at Oak Leaf on her return to the club, admitted she was nervous walking to the ring for the decider but couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she had her hand raised in the end.

“Whenever I went in I was a bit nervous mixed with excitement,” said the Brandywell girl. “When they called my name I couldn’t stop smiling all night.

“Everybody was delighted I won it. It makes me happy.”

When she first walked through the doors of the impressive Oak Leaf gym at Rathmor Business Park as an eight year-old, her coach Eugene 'Budge' O'Kane immediately identified her potential and made a bold prediction which came true five years later.

"From the first day we went in we knew she had talent. The coach, Eugene, said to me that day that Shaniece would be an Irish champion. He said 'she'll be my first Girl One Irish champion' the first day she was in the club and he was right!”

Meanwhile, another Oakleaf member, Joshua Cairns just lost out in the final to a three-time Irish champion from Olympic Galway in the boy 3 37kg class. The ever-improving Waterside lad will have learned from this experience.

Martin Ward won his first contest but was narrowly beaten in the semi-finals.

All in all it was a great showing by the Derry outfit who returned with a gold and silver medal.