September 2018

Ed's memory lives on in logo for new 'elite boxer' course

Read time: approx 1 mins

The memory of a former UCB student who died doing the sport he loved will live on after his image was chosen to help promote a new boxing course.

Ed Bilbey's mum said he would have been delighted – and possibly a little embarrassed – to be the face of Boxing Education (BoxED): Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE).

In tribute to Ed, who was studying for a BTEC Diploma in Sport (Performance and Excellence), his silhouette has been incorporated into artwork for a new course at UCB, which is being run in partnership with England Boxing and is open to talented, young sportsmen and sportswomen capable of representing Team GB at the highest levels of Olympic competition.

The new course, which is the only one of its type in the Midlands, aims to nurture and train talented 16 to 18-year olds who would like to combine vocational study with the training required to reach the top of the sport. Those entering the course need to be identified by the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) as having elite potential.

Students will be able to gain qualifications to enable them to become qualified gym instructors and personal trainer and the modules in sports nutrition, sports psychology, coaching and anatomy and physiology will help with a career in the sports industry or assist those going into higher education.

Ed, who was a member of an elite boxing academy in his home county of Derbyshire, died shortly after a fight for the East Midlands Youth Welterweight title – as regulated by England Boxing - in April last year.

Mum Michelle Bilbey said her son had a heart of gold who had a kind word for everyone and whose passion was boxing.

She said: “Ed wanted to be somebody in boxing, the best that he could possibly be – a world champion one day. No one could ever fault his work ethics and that relentless determination with one goal in his heart.

“I think his happiest days were spent at UCB with Henry [his brother] and all his mates on the course, mainly as they shared the same mind-set, goals and determination to make something of themselves. He could relate to them as they too gave up the usual life of a 17-year-old to concentrate on fulfilling their dreams.

“He would be over the moon with the BoxED course and the picture - if not a little embarrassed.”

Back to top