Nairn boxer Conor Walker hopes he can inspire others who have autism to get into sport after competing at national level
NAIRN athlete Conor Walker says he hopes he has inspired other people with autism they can compete on the national stage after competing at the Scottish Novice Boxing Championships.
The 19-year-old Nairn Boxing Club fighter made his debut at the Scottish Novice Championships in Ravenscraig earlier this month.
Walker, who is diagnosed with autism, put in a creditable performance despite losing his fight.
But he wants to show that having autism is no barrier to achieving your goal of competing in sport.
He said: “I would like to think that I have given people the idea no matter what condition you have, you can easily pick up a sport and take it so far to the extent that you would like to go.”
Walker, a social science student at Moray College, was encouraged to take up boxing after speaking to his mum Vicky.
She heard Nairn Boxing Club, and in particular head coach Kevin Brooks, had experience in working with people with autism and thought that it would be something Conor would be interested in.
She said: “I heard boxing was good for discipline and that Kevin was good with autistic people.
“Conor picked up on this and said he fancied it, so he went down and that’s where it all started.
“At the competition it was noisy and loud, but Conor was able to cope in those situations and put his headphones on. Kevin knows a lot about dealing with autism and about how to keep him focussed.
“That enabled Conor to do what he needed to do to enable him to do the fight.”
Walker was a talented archer during his teenage years with Highland Bowhunters Archery Club, winning a number of medals. But during lockdown, he wanted to take up a new sport and felt boxing was perfect for him.
“I only got involved 12 months ago, during a period that I had a lot whole lot of free time on my hands. So I thought boxing, and I went to Nairn Boxing Club to see how it went and I ended up competing at the Scottish Novice Championships.
“Kevin took me on, and with every lesson he made sure that I was doing everything correctly and gave everyone the equal amount of attention.
“He helped me progress and showed me what to do, and I would like to thank him for taking me on and giving me the experience of competing in boxing.”
Walker says being able to compete at the Scottish Novice Championships was one of the biggest thrills of his life and is looking forward to more opportunities.
“The whole experience and the thrill of it all I found just amazing,” said Walker.
“I enjoyed every single bit of it. Just getting into the ring, seeing an opponent and having to fight him in front of over 1000 people, including viewers online, was just mental to me.
“I had an idea of how it would be, but the difference of imagining and being there was completely different.
“I had no idea how I was going to react, but when I got into the ring, I was blown away how amazing it was.
“It is a big achievement to get up there and experience it, as I didn’t think I’d do it. I think I achieved something big for myself.”
Walker also has ambitions of becoming a coach in the future.
“It is something I have thought about as a possible career path, I’m keeping my options open.”