Story: Lisa Swift
Arsalan Othman is hoping to inspire young people, after winning gold at the British Universities Boxing Championships in February.
The victory followed 7 fights in the competition, which took place in Coventry, Birmingham and Don Valley Stadium. Arsalan trains with Brendan Ingle at Wincobank 5 to 7 days per week. Arsalan explained,
“Brendan inspired me to go to University. He said, ‘get your education sorted and then you can do the boxing.’ So I’m studying Sports Coaching at Sheffield Hallam University. I’m in my first year.”
Arsalan was born in Yemen and was brought up in Pitsmoor from the age of 7 but is also well known in Wensley, where he has worked part-time at the community shop for 3 years. It has long been his ambition to work with other young people.
“I was involved in the Streetworx youth project when it ran up at Verdon Street. I saw the youth workers help others and I wanted to give something back. I want to inspire young people to get into sports: that’s why I’m studying to be a sports coach.”
The positive publicity from this gold medal victory is something Arsalan is also pleased about,
“I’m glad I got something positive in the Star about the win. It’s something positive about Pitsmoor, they usually only want to write bad news about our area.”