Victory Boxing Board

Karen Darling

Kia ora koutou, kō Karen Darling tōku ingoa.  It is my privilege to be part of the wonderful Victory Boxing whānau.

My passion is that all children in Aotearoa can connect and participate in meaningful activities that encourage growth, self-belief and resilience.

I have a lifelong love of sport and I believe that through sport we can bring out the best of ourselves, and others. I completed a Bachelor of Recreation and Tourism Management at Lincoln University, I have worked in both the recreation and tourism sectors and I have been fortunate that my work has taken me round the world - in communities in Africa, The Caribbean, The UK, and different regions of Aotearoa.  Recently I was a part of the Shared Communities Whākatu project supporting migrant and former refugee communities to participate in their Arts and Cultural activities. My most recent area of study has been learning Te Reo Māori and I am currently an Inbound Travel Coordinator for a New Zealand Travel company.

I'm married to Hamish, an Air NZ pilot and we have 5 awesome children aged 24, 21, 17 and two 12 year olds.  Our kids are a diverse mix of cultures and came to us through a combination of adoption, birth and fostering.  All our children participate in sport at different levels and our eldest son Max is a baller currently playing for the NZ Breakers, The Canterbury Rams and the Tall Blacks.

Karen Darling BPRM

Hayden Thompson

Hello, I am Hayden Thompson and have the privilege of being a board member of the Victory Boxing Charitable Trust. I have been involved with Victory Boxing since January 2014 when I was training for my first corporate boxing match at Fight 4 Victory 2. It was the involvement with Victory Boxing back then that pulled me into the gym after my fight and I really got to see the great work being done in the Community by the dedicated and hard-working group at Victory Boxing.

My wife Francine and I own and run Pomeroy’s Coffee & Tea Company here in Nelson and we have three children aged 19, 17, 15. In my spare time I am either on the golf course, skiing or just enjoying the outdoors.

I currently coach baseball for the local Nelson Heat Baseball club and was fortunate enough to be selected as the travelling coach of The Under 14 New Zealand baseball team who travelled to California to play in the international world series.

Hayden Thompson

Kyle Bruning

Kia ora, I am Kyle Bruning and I feel privileged to be a Board member of the Victory Boxing Charitable Trust.

While I do not have a background in boxing I have been involved in many sports that have utilised boxing sessions for its values of physical and mental fitness, discipline, respect and confidence.  It's fantastic to see these values being developed in the tamariki and rangatahi of Victory Boxing.

I am a Sergeant in the New Zealand police, where I have worked in a number of roles including frontline response policing, family harm, tactical crime unit and rural policing.  I currently supervise a prevention team with a focus on alcohol harm prevention.

Prior to joining the police I spent 10 years living in Scotland, where I met my wife Joyce.  We have three sons, Kieron, Hayden and Blake.  In my spare time I enjoy a variety of sports and spending time on the beach.

Kyle Bruning

Irene Firestone

Kia Ora

I'm Irene Firestone, I have just started on the Victory Boxing Board this year and feel privileged to be part of an organisation and group of people doing wonderful things through sport for our community and our kids. 

I am Nelson born but have spent several years travelling and studying,  I studied at Otago doing a BA in social work and then later completed my Masters in Business Administration, focusing on Governance - I enjoy working with businesses/Organisations that build and help our community thrive.

I am married to Perry and we are very lucky to have 3 girls, 13, 11 and 9.  We feel blessed to be back in the Nelson community with everything it has to offer - couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  We enjoy taking our kids out tramping, biking and making the most of what Nelson has to offer. 

BA, MBA

Irene

Kipp O'Donnell

Hello, I am Kipp O’Donnell and am new to the Victory Boxing Board. I was raised in Southland and South Canterbury,  and studied in Dunedin at Otago University. My wife Jacqui and I have three young children. We moved to Nelson in 2016, and I have been coming to Victory boxing since then. I run a small recruitment business based here in Nelson.

I have always played and been interested in sports and am a firm believer in the benefit that sport and fitness can have on overall wellbeing and confidence, especially in young people. Having seen firsthand the good that Victory Boxing do, am delighted to join the board and help enable the ongoing support of the Victory Boxing community.

Kipp O'Donnell

Vikki Heays

Nō Koroātiana te whakapapa rangi mai

I tipu ake ahau i a Te Tai Tokerau

Engari, ka noho au inaianei i a Whakatu

Ko Vikki Heays ahau.

 

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa, My name is Vikki Heays and I am privileged to have recently become a member of the Victory Board of Trustees. 

I was born and raised in Northland.  After studying at university, I went on to become a Primary School teacher (fun fact: I was at Teacher Training College in Kārori, Wellington with Paul many moons ago!), and I have been teaching and working in the education sector now for over 25 years, both in NZ and overseas. On our return to NZ, my partner, Johnnie and I moved to Nelson. Our family of three boys (22, 18 and 15), were all born and raised in Nelson, and they have all been/are heavily involved in a variety of sports as young people, including one who did competitive boxing at VB, and who always returns to train at VB when he is home.

My entire career has been in in education – from early childhood, primary, home education and now in the secondary sector.   I am currently work as the Careers Advisor at Nelson College, a job I really love for the opportunities it provides to connect with and support rangatahi as they transition out of school. Outside of my teaching mahi, I have my own small business as a Professional Supervisor where I work 1:1 with professionals in the ‘helping professions’.

It is especially important to me to do work that genuinely makes a difference to others, and in particular to work in roles that support the development of the values, skills, and self-awareness that our young people need to enable them to flourish in the world – and I love the mahi Victory Boxing does in this regard. The values of Respect, Responsibility, Determination and Caring that underpin everything Victory Boxing is involved in, are values that align with my own, and I am delighted and honoured to be able to give back to this fantastic community based organisation as a Board Member.

Nga manaakitanga, Vikki