Behind The Gloves Raises $10,000 CAD for Interval House

Lee McFarland — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:11:41 GMT

Behind The Gloves has once again demonstrated the power of the iGaming and sports betting industry to come together and create meaningful community impact — this time at SBC Summit Canada.

Following a series of boxing-inspired wellness sessions delivered during the event, Behind The Gloves, alongside lead sponsor BLAZESOFT and supporting partner Bede Gaming, proudly presented a $10,000 CAD donation to Interval House, a Toronto-based charity providing critical support to women and children experiencing intimate partner violence.

The donation represented more than a moment at the event. It reflected a collective industry effort to transform participation, sponsorship, and engagement into tangible social impact.

Supporting a cause that matters

Interval House continues to provide essential services for survivors, including a 24/7 crisis line, emergency shelter, counselling, and long-term programmes focused on rebuilding independence and economic self-sufficiency. At a time when demand for these services remains critically high, contributions such as this provide direct support to those who need it most.

More than a workout

Behind The Gloves was created to encourage more meaningful connection within the industry through movement, shared experience, and wellbeing-focused engagement. At SBC Summit Canada, that purpose became something tangible. What began as early-morning sessions designed to energise attendees evolved into a wider industry initiative centred around participation, connection, and giving back — with operators, suppliers, and industry leaders coming together not simply to train, but to contribute towards a shared cause with measurable impact.

The partners who made it possible

The contribution was made possible through the backing of BLAZESOFT and Bede Gaming, whose support played a central role in enabling both the Behind The Gloves sessions and the wider charitable initiative. For sponsors and partners, the value extends far beyond visibility — helping enable experiences that prioritise people, encourage stronger community connection, and generate meaningful charitable outcomes alongside commercial engagement.

"Behind The Gloves was never created just to run sessions at events. It was created to bring people together in a more meaningful way and to use that engagement to create something positive beyond the industry itself. The donation to Interval House is proof of what can happen when the right people, partners, and purpose come together." - Lee McFarland, Founder, Behind The Gloves

"At Blazesoft, we believe the strongest partnerships are the ones that create lasting value for both people and communities. Supporting Behind The Gloves at SBC Summit Canada gave us the opportunity to be part of something that combined industry engagement with genuine social impact. We're proud to support an initiative that brings people together while contributing to an important cause." - Yuliya Ivanisova, Chief Commercial Officer, Blazesoft

"Behind The Gloves creates a very different kind of experience within the industry — one centred around people, wellbeing, and connection. Supporting this initiative was a natural fit for us, and seeing the outcome in support of Interval House shows what's possible when businesses collaborate around a shared purpose." - Jessica Marrs, VP Product Marketing, Bede Gaming

What comes next

The cheque presentation marks an important milestone for Behind The Gloves, but not the endpoint. As the initiative continues to expand across events and regions, the focus remains the same: creating scalable experiences that combine industry engagement with measurable social impact. In an industry often defined by performance metrics and commercial outcomes, Behind The Gloves is helping lead a broader conversation around wellbeing, community, and collective responsibility.

I went to box. I learned to breathe.

Katie Byers — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:52:13 GMT

I’d never really understood what respect, discipline and fighting had to do with getting to punch a bag in a gym. Until yesterday.

I thought I was going in for the physical bit. The swing of the arm, the speed and impression on the bag. The sweat. The raised heart rate. The focus. That was the picture in my head, and honestly, that was enough.

I’m a great proponent of “slow down to speed up.” I love mindfulness. I’ve spent years building a relationship with stillness. But boxing? It didn’t even cross my mind that the gloves could open another door into all of that - deepen my sense of self, sharpen my curiosity, take me somewhere new in my own head.

I’m a curious soul. Exploring is one of my life goals, it makes me sing. I follow my heart, I trust what I sense in people, and I want to enable others to evolve and achieve more than they realise they can. So when I was asked to support Behind the Gloves, my reasons were personal. I knew Lee. I truly believed the industry needed a drive for change... good, honest change. That’s why I jumped.

I had to get properly involved. Give it my all. Experience the sessions. So there I was, in a gym in Malta, living the vision.

Here’s the thing - you don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to be fit. You just need to put on the gloves. The openness, the welcome, the buzz of the place, none of it cared where I sat on the fitness scale. That alone would have been a good day.

But the real lesson had nothing to do with any of that. It was totally unexpected. And it was mental.

I felt it land: my brain needs to slow down to let my body catch up. I can’t be impactful if I rush a punch. There’s no impact in a rushed punch. There’s only noise.

Slow down. Focus. Breathe.

That’s not new language to me. It’s language I’ve used with teams, with leaders, with myself for years. But there’s a difference between knowing a thing and feeling it through your shoulder, through your hips, through your breath. Yesterday, I felt it.

So thank you, BTG. I already know the impact radius around me from this is going to be massive. I’m developing. I can be a better mum, wife, friend and daughter for it. And I’ll bring those around me with me to pause, to breathe, to think, and then take the structured next step that lands with the weight they actually intended.

Turns out the bag had something to teach me. And it wasn’t about the bag.

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Behind The Gloves Raises $10,000 CAD for Interval House

I went to box. I learned to breathe.