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 13, 11, 9. In my spare time I am either on my mountain bike, skiing or just enjoying the outdoors.

I have been involved with the New Zealand Speciality Coffee Association up until last year as an executive board member and president. I also coach a junior rugby team, and this year took up a new challenge of umpiring baseball for the local Nelson Heat Baseball team.

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