Sudbury's Jessica Brugess will make her second trip to the Canadian Boxing Championships from April 24 - 30 in Quebec City.
Things are a little different this time around for the 36-year-old boxer, as she's heading to the national stage with more experience, more skill, and more support.
"My first trip to nationals I had only 13 bouts to my name," said Brugess, who trains under Gord Apolloni at Sudbury's Top Glove Boxing Academy.
"This time around I think there's just a high level of general skill development. I've had a lot more technical and tactical training."
Apolloni has overseen Brugess' development from the day she walked through the door at Top Glove in January of 2014, the same year she made her first trip to the national championships.
"It's a lot different this time, the first trip it was just the two of us basically, now we have a whole team behind Jessica," said Apolloni. "We've got sports psychologists, nutritionists, athletic therapists all working to make sure she performs at her best. This is what the top athletes in the world are all doing and we're doing the same thing."
Brugess has also had the opportunity to spar with some of the best in the country, taking sparring sessions with two-time Pan American Games gold medalist, Mandy Bujold.
"I've been able to get some sparring sessions with her and work on a lot of things," said Brugess, who has been tailoring her training to the rigourous schedule that can come with boxing at a national championship.
The 51 kg weight class that Brugess will compete in with have as many as six fighters competing, meaning that she could potentially fight three times during the week of the championships.
"This past weekend I sparred three days in a row, just to get myself accustomed to that kind of schedule, and then doing cool-down and maintenance afterwards," said Brugess. "Preparation is big, but when I get there it's just about doing my best each and every round and working one round at a time, one bout at a time."
Once in Quebec City, Apolloni says it's important to ride the momentum from round to round and fight to fight, but back home in Sudbury, the team is trying to create a wave of momentum to fund the week-long trip that is going to cost nearly $3,000.
Expenses like hotel rooms, food, vehicle rental and gas for the trip are all paid for out of pocket by Apolloni and Brugess, who have started a GoFundMe to help out in Jessica's journey to nationals.
"I've had friends and family who have been so supportive, small businesses have stepped up to donate as well," said Brugess. "Former club members have even helped out so it's been great."
Apolloni says that they're still about $1,400 shy of their funding goal that will ensure a smooth and seamless trip.
"The community support has been strong and we're getting there," he said. "Getting to this goal just makes things a lot easier on Jessica, money should be the furthest thing from her mind when she's preparing."
To donate to the "Get in my Corner" fundraiser, you can visit the GoFundMe page here.
