Mobile, Alabama to Play Host to USA Boxing’s Junior Olympic National Championships

May 9th, 2013

The Elite Junior Event to be contested at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center for the third straight year

(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – The 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships will be contested in a familiar locale as USA Boxing returns to Mobile, Ala., and the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center, June 26-29. The event, which continually showcases the best 15 and 16-year-old male and female boxers in the United States, has taken place in Mobile for past three years. 

“All of the recent USA Boxing events in Mobile been a great success and we look forward to working with the Mobile Sports Authority to put on another outstanding week of boxing at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in June,” said USA Boxing Executive Director Anthony Bartkowski. “We have a renewed focus on our Junior Olympic program, which has always been a key component of developing our future Olympians, and this event is a critical piece of identifying our young talent.”  

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Men’s Boxing were held in conjunction with the Junior Olympic National Championships in 2011, kicking off USA Boxing’s current relationship with Mobile. "On behalf of the Mobile Sports Authority and the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, we're very excited to be hosting the 2013 USA Boxing Junior Olympic National Championships,” Mobile Sports Authority Executive Director Danny Corte said. “USA Boxing Events Director Nicki Smeland and her staff from USA Boxing have been great to work with and we've enjoyed watching the future Olympic boxing stars compete. We want to encourage the families and friends of these young athletes to come on down to Mobile and enjoy some good ole Southern hospitality." 

All of the athletes competing in the 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships had to qualify for the major national tournament, earning their berths through one of fourteen regional tournaments, the 2013 Junior World Team Open or as a returning Junior Olympic National champion. The 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships will open competition on Wednesday, June 26 with preliminary round bouts and will feature two sessions daily at noon and 6 p.m. through semifinal action on Friday, June 28. The championship bouts will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 29 with men’s and women’s final round contests taking place in two rings simultaneously. 

Athletes born in 1997 and 1998 are eligible to compete in the 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships and the event will feature 13 weight classes ranging from 101 pounds to the 176+ division in both the male and female divisions.

Tickets will be available at the door for $12 per day and all session passes can be purchased for $40 at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center. Any questions regarding event tickets can be directed to the Mobile Sports Authority at (251) 725-1794.

USA Boxing’s Junior Olympic program is a critical developmental pipeline for the organization and has consistently produced future Olympians and professional world champions. 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) won the 2011 event in Mobile prior to claiming the first-ever middleweight gold in women’s Olympic boxing action.  The 2013 tournament will be the 42nd Junior National Championships in the program’s storied history. Full weight class rosters will be released prior to the event.

USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).   ###

CONTACT:
Julie Goldsticker – julie@goldstickerpr.com  and (719-440-1050)