Team NI Commonwealth Team Named
Birmingham 2022 gold medal winners Michaela Walsh and Jude Gallagher have been named in a 12 strong Team NI squad to contest the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year.
Olympian Walsh, will look to add to her sensational collection of Commonwealth medals, competing once again at featherweight, while Tyrone’s Gallagher moves up to lightweight following his featherweight triumph four years ago.
Jon McConnell and Louis Rooney, who were both team mates of Walsh and Gallagher at the recent World Boxing Cup, are both preparing for their first appearance at the Games.
John Paul Hale is another boxer returning for a second Commonwealth campaign. The Belfast fighter will aim to improve on his Birmingham performance, where he exited in the opening round.
Nicole Clyde also gets another opportunity on the Games stage. The Antrim boxer has been selected at 54kg and will be hoping for a deeper run after reaching the quarter-finals in 2022.
Among the newcomers is Immaculata’s Caitlin Fryers, who secured her place after a strong bronze-medal finish at the Strandja Tournament earlier this year.
Holy Trinity welterweight Kaci Rock, daughter of former professional boxer Jim Rock, is also included following her Ulster Elite Championship success last December.
Her clubmate Janssen Hill joins the squad after claiming Ulster honours of her own, while Eoghan Quinn, Garyn McAllister and Willie John McCartan complete the panel after each captured Ulster titles in 2025 to seal Commonwealth selection.
Squad
51kg: Caitlin Fryers (Immaculata)
54kg: Nicole Clyde (Antrim)
55kg: Louis Rooney (Star ABC)
57kg: Michaela Walsh (Holy Family GG)
60kg: Jude Gallagher (2Castles ABC)
65kg: Kaci Rock (Holy Trinity)
65kg: John Paul Hale (Star ABC)
70kg: Janssen Hill (Holy Trinity)
70kg: Jon McConnell (Holy Trinity)
80kg: Eoghan Quinn (St John’s, Swatragh)
90kg: Garyn McAllister (North Down)
90+kg: Willie John McCartan (Gilford)
