Just weeks after earning her place in Team GB, 19-year-old Stalbridge boxer Ruby White has been selected to represent Team England at next month’s Commonwealth Games.
‘I’ve only officially been in Team GB three weeks,’ she says. ‘And now I’m going to the Commonwealth Games. I’m so, so happy.’
Her selection for Team GB happened unexpectedly fast.
After attending three gruelling assessment camps earlier this year, she was told her selection decision would be made after the national championships, and she instinctively felt it would come down to her performance: ‘I thought, right – I need to win nationals,’ she says. ‘And I did.’
Having been crowned National Elite Champion and presented with her belt, Ruby stepped out of the ring to find her GB coach waiting.
He was holding an envelope.
‘They told me I’d made the team. They said they’ve never done that before – handing it out personally like that at Nationals. That meant a lot.’
Since then, life has changed quickly. Last time Dorset Life caught up with Ruby, she was working full time and struggling to fit in her training alongside paying the bills. Now, she has given up her job and relocated closer to Sheffield, where the GB boxing programme is based. She trains full-time – ‘I’m a professional athlete now!’ – spending Monday to Friday in camp training alongside the country’s top boxers.
Taking me through a typical week, Ruby says she leaves home around 8.30am on a Monday. ‘I drive to Sheffield to get to camp for 2pm, see everyone, say hello, get ready, warm up and go straight into my first boxing session at half past two, then into strength and conditioning afterwards.
‘Tuesday to Thursday it’s up at 7am, weigh-in at 7.30, then we meet on the track for the run. From 10.30 until 12.30 it’s individual coaching, sparring, bags or another boxing session. Then from three until five it’s either more boxing or strength and conditioning. Three sessions a day, full out, maximum effort.
‘It’s really hard,’ she says. ‘But I’m loving it. I’m really, really loving it.’
For the first time, she says, she is able to focus entirely on boxing:
‘I don’t have to worry about work or anything else. I just have to worry about my training and my results. It’s a lot of pressure … but it’s a good pressure.
‘A lot of people told me I might be stressed, I might be exhausted, I might not like it … but it’s actually taken a lot of weight off my shoulders. This is all I’m doing now. Full time athlete. It’s just me, and my boxing.’
The environment at camp has also played a part, she says. ‘We’re all going through the same thing – we’re all tired, we’re all hurting … but everyone supports each other. It’s like a big family,’ she says. ‘I feel properly supported, and I’m surrounded by people who just … get it. It’s just nice to have people there that you don’t have to explain it to, they already understand, and you can just talk to them and just let it out, and they get you.’
A clear path
Despite being one of the newest members of the GB set-up – and part of the development ‘academy’ squad rather than the senior ‘podium’ group – Ruby has been selected ahead of more experienced athletes in her weight category. The speed of that decision has taken even her by surprise.
‘I’m just lost for words,’ she says. ‘It’s crazy. There are three girls in my weight on GB, and I got picked. They told me they can see that I’m young and I’m hungry and I want to improve and I want to do well, and they’ve given me the chance.’
Behind the breakthrough is a level of discipline that goes beyond the ring: ‘I’ve always trained hard, but now I’ve really, really got my life together,’ she says. ‘I’ve always put max effort into my training, but now, outside of boxing, I’m taking everything seriously too. I don’t go out, I eat properly all the time, I don’t crash my diet, I’m always on weight. I feel good in my body. I’m eating a lot and still underweight … I’m just really happy. I look after myself. I’ve got a really good group of people around me… I’m just enjoying it.’
The Commonwealth Games will provide her biggest test yet. Looking further ahead, the pathway is already clear: ‘After this, hopefully 2028 Olympics,’ she says. ‘But that’s a long way off yet. You have to prove you’re good enough to your country, and then to the world,’ she says. ‘You’ve got to win everything.’
For now, though, the focus is on Glasgow.
‘I’m just taking every opportunity,’ she says. ‘Seeing where it takes me. I’ve just got to prove myself.’
The Commonwealth Games are in Glasgow, with the opening ceremony on 23rd July. The boxing will be from 24th July to 1st August, and you can find the schedule and results on englandboxing.org
