The Women's Boxing Club is embarking on a new era of competition. Currently, competition between women boxers has been limited to unofficial sparring, but soon women boxers may be opening Bengal Bouts.

A proposal by the team's co-presidents, Shelley Skiba and Laura Young, will allow for six women's bouts, or exhibition spars to open the men's boxing competition. RecSports and Health management must ratify the proposal before the women will be allowed to spar in public.

"As of yet, the proposal has met no major opposition," Young said.

The women's boxing club was started in the spring of 1997 and has grown to over 100 members. The club has a novice season and a veteran season ending with two weeks of sparring in the ring. The proposal was a response to the advanced status of many of the women boxers.

"We wanted to offer the girls something more and we felt that they were ready for it," Young said.

Since 1931, the men's boxing club has been entertaining audiences at the Bengal Bouts, a fundraiser for Holy Cross missions in Bangladesh. Throughout the six years of the women's club's existence, the female members have been silent partners in running and sponsoring the competition. Yet, the issue of women's involvement as contenders had never been addressed.

Young said, "The idea was assumed as not [being] plausible, so [previous team captains] never asked. It is a natural progression for the club, but it will be a big step."

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