Warrnambool boxing coach Bess Slater and young fighter Bella Rantall will venture to the Australian Institute of Sport this weekend to partake in an exclusive training camp with national development coach Don Abnett.

Slater, a fighter-turned-coach who honed her craft under the tutelage of Rodney Ryan, will then jet off to the Philippines to mentor at an international training camp with Boxing Australia.

Slater said she was one of the few elite coaches making the trip to the Philippine highland city of Baguio for the camp.

“It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity by Boxing Australia to develop my coaching skills and learn from international elite coaches. I still have a lot to learn and being exposed to this helps my development,” she told The Standard.

“I’m really lucky that I’ve been able to do my coaching apprenticeship under Rudy since I stopped competing in 2014. I’ve really enjoyed taking on the coaching role and mentoring our young female athletes.

“At the moment we have 20 or more fighters preparing for fights this year, and 12 of these are young females that I’m working with and that is really exciting for the future of women’s boxing in Warrnambool.”

Slater hailed Rantall’s work ethic and said the opportunity to train at the AIS came on the back of months of gym work and sparring.

“She (Rantall) works harder than anyone, she trains twice a day six days a week, eats well and allows her body to recover after a week’s grueling training sessions,” she said.

“She’s the most dedicated young athlete I’ve seen. She trains at an elite level and is always looking for ways to improve.

“The camp is the perfect preparation for Bella leading into Victorian State Titles in February and the National Championships in Adelaide in April.”

Rantall, a 16-year-old, has been boxing for just 18 months.

She was thrilled to be invited to the camp and expected to emerge from the experience as a well-rounded fighter.

“I’m really excited. I just know that it is going to change a lot of things and let me see things in a different way,” Rantall said.

“I’ve been coming in here for the most part twice a day, but it sort of just depends when I’m working and whatnot.

“We do a lot of sparring on weekends with all of the fighters out of the gym. On Tuesdays, we do a lot of sprint work and running, and every Wednesday night we’re running the Flaggy five kilometre as a team.

“It’s fun. We’re doing a lot to stay at it.”