RICHARD WINTON
What appears to be a fire exit lies ajar, light spilling into the Port Glasgow gloom. Inside, the noise of squeaking soles and coarse commands confirms the location of the Port Glasgow Victoria Amateur Boxing Club in the hall of a spiritualist church.
Inside, harsh striplights illuminate a spartan space. The incongruous glitterball hangs over a ragged ring, punch bags and several misplaced items of industrial machinery, while around 20 teenagers shadow box as coach Kenny Crighton chastises and cajoles in equal measure.
Among them is 15-year-old Natalie McKay, the first female member of a club with a 30-year tradition. As she thrusts her fists forward, her eyes the epitome of concentration, it is immediately apparent that her involvement is no fitness fad. Indeed, the Port Glasgow High School pupil became the first Scottish female to feature at an international event earlier this month when she competed at a prestigious tournament in Sweden.
The event in Gothenburg finally allowed Natalie to shake off the shackles of sparring after eight months of preparation. She may have lost her only bout to the eventual winner of the 50-strong competition, but acquitted herself admirably in her debut fight.
"It was an amazing experience," she says, shivering in a drafty dressing room that was torched two years ago and is partitioned from the auditorium by a limp scrap of fawn fabric. "It was just one fight and the first round was a bit of a shock. I took a big knock that burst my nose but I think I did well," she adds, looking at Crighton for affirmation.
The coach concurs, explaining that Natalie improved as the fight progressed despite being forced to fight in a higher weight division and against a far more experienced rival.
Selected along with another five fighters from the club, her inclusion was reward for a year of dedication after she persuaded Crighton to let her join brother Sean and step-brother Don at thrice-weekly training. A Scottish judo champion in her category, she had tired of a sport where success came too easily and was eager for a fresh challenge.
"I always wanted to give boxing a try but there was never a club for girls," explains Natalie, whose fitness and flexibility have allowed her to shine at a variety of disciplines.
"I wasn't getting nervous any more with judo. I was thinking this is easy, I'm going to win' every time I went on the mat because most of my medals were gold; I was getting a bit bored and wanted a change."
Her nerves at entering an environment teeming with testosterone did not last long. Immediately welcomed by peers perhaps in thrall to her good looks, she soon became "one of the boys" and is now hit just as hard as anyone else and treated no differently by Crighton or any of the other coaches.
"I think they've forgotten I'm a girl," giggles Natalie, noting that she expects the usual birthday punches when she celebrates her 16th next week. "But I enjoy it and that's what's matters. My mates thought I was crazy but now a couple of them are coming along."
Crighton intends to encourage this new interest by running classes for women along with Natalie, who has ambitions of becoming a PE teacher. Her aims do not end there either, with a place at the 2012 Olympics a realistic target should women's boxing be included.
"Some of my mates say are you coming out? You can miss boxing for once' but I want to train and I want to hopefully, one day, fight in the Olympics," she insists.
"I'm a lot fitter than them because they're all smoking and drinking. I'm not interested in that, I think it's a complete waste of time. They're not going to make anything of their lives doing that and I watch them and just think it's stupid. When they're doing that, I'm in here doing something useful trying to make myself better."
Her attitude is an example to others in the club, who Crighton suspects "come in to get out of the cold". That outlook ensured Natalie's selection for Gothenburg and will assist her in the impending Scottish women's championships and in a bout against the Swedish runner-up from the Gothenburg tournament in Port Glasgow in January.
It is also a testament to Crighton's efforts. A coach with the Scotland squad, his investment in time over the past 25 years has been enormous and the respect he commands exemplified by the concentrated hush when he speaks.
Despite scraping by on the proceeds from their annual show, Victoria ABC took two medals in Sweden - Natalie's step brother Don Brown unfortunate to only take silver in a split decision, while Grant Quigley took gold - and the coach is confident that among the six fighters are potential Olympians. If she continues to develop, Natalie could be one of them.
As the interview ends, she takes note of the diet sheets on the dressing room wall. "I looked fat in one of the pictures in the paper," confides the slight teenager in a rare moment of girliness from a young woman making a big impression in a traditionally male environment.
