Wolverhampton coach gets a kick out of her students succeeding

Amie Weaver, who set up AW Kickboxing in Bentley Bridge eight years ago, says she is immensely 'proud' of her four students who won medals at the International Combat Organisation (ICO) World Championships last month.

Rad Grecki aged 29, Charlie Bache aged 14 and two sisters Nimi and Anaya Jewan aged 14 and 12 respectively, competed in different events to win seven golds, one silver and two bronze medals.

And Ms Weaver said she was delighted her students have returned to the UK with medals galore.

She said: "I could not be prouder, I don't have children of my own, so when I see my students achieving, it is nice. They are like my babies really."

But it has not been a simple path to the top for the West Bromwich-born instructor, she is one of a few female instructors, and at times she feels men have looked down on her because of her gender.

"I have only been running my gym for eight years, but it has been tough," she said about the difficulty of being a woman in a male-dominated sport.

"Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good people around me, and I get a lot of support from the ICO.

"There are many male coaches that do support me, but sometimes I have taken my students across the UK to compete, and I have been spoken down to by certain males in the industry.

"I have had remarks made to me about being a woman, and at times it has not been nice.

"I have had to fight extra hard to get where we are now to prove that women can do the exact same thing as what a man can."

The 34-year-old was a victim of domestic violence earlier in her life and believes the sport offers an escape route for so many people who may be going through difficult times.

"I was very young when it happened, I was just 17," she said about an extremely difficult moment in her life.

"It ended when I was 21 when I basically did a runner, I had to escape with a group of friends and family who helped me through that.

"It took a long time to get over it, it is traumatising, there are still some women who feel like there is no escape.

"There is, and they can do it with the right support and the right people, even if they don't have the right people around them.

"It is proving a point to women that you can do it."

Ms Weaver is inspiring and motivated individual, and her business has expanded recently, in September she opened her second gym – this time in Wombourne.

And it is something she has not ruled out doing more of in the future.

"I want to franchise out, I want to fight myself, and there are a lot of projects I want to set up next year.

"I am hoping to hold a women's fight show next year, there are a lot of women who do martial arts for lots of different reasons.

"But I don't want to just push it for the women, I want it for the children and the men, but they come to it knowing they are going to be taught by a female instructor.

"It is nice to have that respect throughout our community."