Gym’ll fix it for soldiers (From The Northern Echo)

Gym’ll fix it for soldiers

10:49am Wednesday 2nd December 2009

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A SOLDIER from the North- East has created a boxing gym to help his comrades stay on their toes while serving in Afghanistan.

Gunner Sean Beattie has gathered up scrap materials in his temporary Helmand home to create a facility where fellow soldiers can maintain their fitness – an important part of Army life.

The 20-year-old, from Chilton, County Durham, is deployed in Forward Operating Base Inkerman, where he is part of the Royal Artillery, providing fire power support to front line troops.

Gnr Beattie has recycled items such as old javelin missile tubes, improvised spring boards and sandbags and secured jab pads and a punch bag to equip the gym.

Beattie’s Boxing Club, as it has been named, offers an impressive array of Helmandstyle gym equipment, ideal for boxing circuits and Gnr Beattie provides coaching.

With five years boxing experience and using skills developed at Spennymoor Boxing Club the former pupil of St John’s School, in Bishop Auckland, leads vigorous workouts. Speaking after a gym session, he said: “I like to make the workout as demanding as possible. After an hour or so training, the 14 volunteers at today’s session were a sweating mess and well and truly worked out.

“The jab pads in particular were a real lung burner, as soldiers thrash out their frustrations, punching harder and harder under taunts of ‘It’s noodles for lunch again’ or ‘I heard it’s your turn to clean out the deep trench latrines’.”

Gnr Beattie said the gym had quickly established a big following across the base and participants were feeling the benefits already.

He added: “It is top-notch physical training and, if things continue as they are, many are likely to return from Afghanistan even fitter than when they deployed.”

He is confident that with his support, The Chestnut Troop – the senior battery in the Royal Regiment of Artillery – will also soon have a formidable boxing team.

Gnr Beattie joined the Army last year and, while he loves his career, experiencing new things and the deployment in Afghanistan, says he misses his parents, Michael and Karen, and sister Lori.

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