In addition to crowning 20 new national champions, USA Boxing’s membership selected seven new Board of Directors members at the recent USA Boxing National Championships in Colorado Springs.
Long-time member and former Board of Directors representative Hal Adonis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was elected as the President and Chairman of the Board. Adonis previously served in the at-large position on the USA Boxing Board of Directors from 1995-1998. A former Finance Committee member, Adonis served on the boards of both the Hawaii and Colorado Local Boxing Committees. A long-time fundraiser, Adonis recently helped to create grant-writing initiatives for USA Boxing and the LBCs. Adonis will serve a four-year term through 2014.
Long-time women’s boxing advocate Jeaneene Hildebrandt (Evansville, Ind.) will serve as the Women’s Director on the Board. Hildebrandt has been involved with the sport of boxing for over 30 years, working in various roles within the organization, and has been involved in her Indiana LBC leadership since 1987. She has served on the women’s committee in numerous capacities since its creation in 1999 as well as working as the Team Leader for the United States at the first-ever Women’s World Championships in 2001. Hildebrandt will serve as two-year term through 2012.
Gary Pliner (Janesville, Wis.) will serve as the Coach Director on USA Boxing’s Board of Directors. Pliner has been involved with the sport of boxing since 1963 when he was an amateur boxer in the military prior to becoming a coach and official in 1965. Pliner has served on the Wisconsin LBC Board of Directors since 1999, working his way up to the current position of President. A strong advocate for the Wisconsin Junior Olympic program, Pliner has served as Chairman of the Wisconsin Coaches Committee since 2000. Pliner will serve a four-year term through 2014.
Gary Richards (Saginaw, Mich.) will join the USA Boxing Board as the Grassroots Director. Richards became involved with amateur boxing in 1973, working in numerous capacities. The Director of the Michigan Silver Gloves, Richards is a former Chairman of the LBC Services’ Committee. Highly involved at the local level, Richards previously served as the treasurer and registration chairman for the Michigan LBC and was elected president in 2008. He launched a newsletter for Michigan boxing in 1994 and it’s currently in its 16th year of publication. Richards will serve a four-year term through 2014.
The Officials Director role will be filled by long-time official Spence Carpenter (West Branch, Mich.). A former Chief of Officials at the national level, Carpenter has represented the United States at over 25 international duals and events as an AIBA official. He previously served as the Chairman of the Rules and Regulations Committee and has worked as the Chief of Officials for numerous national events, including the U.S. Championships, Olympic Trials and Junior Olympic National Championships. Carpenter will serve a two-year term through 2012.
The athletes have elected Mikaela Mayer (West Hills, Calif.) and Kymmberli Stowe (Millersville, Pa.) as the athlete representatives to the Board of Directors. Mayer will serve as the athlete representative on the USA Boxing Foundation while Stowe will be the Vice President of the Athlete Advisory Council. They will join current athlete representative Angel Bovee (Tully, NY) who is in the middle or her four-year term.
Also completing the Board in the middle of a four-year term is Affiliate Member Representative Jim Beasley (Hutchinson, Kansas). The Affiliate members (Police Athletic League, Armed Services, Golden Gloves and Silver Gloves) will be meeting within 30 days to determine which organization will represent them in the next term, which begins January 1, 2011.
Dr. Charles Butler (Kalamazoo, Mich.) is working as the AIBA Director of the Board and his term will run concurrent with his AIBA Executive Committee position.
The first order of business for the new Board will be to work with the Credentials & Election Committee to recruit, interview and appoint two Independent Directors.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
