Lessons From The Boxing Show

1.  Parents can be helpful.  Ashley and Man-Man's dad helped get their wraps on, and he encouraged them during their matches.  Nassir's mom told him to expect to get hurt when someone is throwing punches back.

2.  Parents just don't understand.  I got the feeling that LaKendrick's dad felt that his son was entitled to have a match.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  I wanted the boy to have a match, but there was no one available for him.  The boxing shows are a roll of the dice in terms of who will get a fight.  I can't make a match happen out of thin air.

3.  Kids just don't understand.  Johnathan tried to pull a fast one on me by telling me he had a match when he didn't.  I'm hoping that he watched his fellow gym mates during their fights.  Johnathan needs to realize, like a lot of the kids need to do, that street fighting will not help them in a boxing match.  Nor can they try to get a fight when there is none for them to have.

4.  Some kids need to learn a sense of personal responsibility.  Shanita and her brother Julius have been slacking off for weeks.  I made a fight for Julius, only to learn the boy had gone out of town without a word to me.  He knew he had a fight.  Shanita, who had been going on about wanting to be a professional boxer, didn't bother to attend the show, either.  I won't pre-match Julius again.  If he and his sister continue in boxing and want to participate in the shows, they'll just have to show up and hope they can get matches.

5.  Some kids will not step in a ring again.  I had made a fight for Mya, but at the last minute, she opted not to participate.  Honestly, I don't think she wants to box, but her dad wants her to keep attending the gym.  It remains to be seen whether the other kids in the gym -- regardless if they boxed in the show or not -- will have second thoughts about being in the sport.  Now that they have seen what it really is, some minds might be changing.

6.  The boxing show is a great recruiting tool.  Several parents came up to me during and after the show wanting to put their kids in the boxing class.  Both the kids' and teens' class are full for the summer, but I suspect there will be a lot of people looking to sign up in the fall.  Who knows?  I might even have to create a waiting list.

7.  The gym door has to be locked.  I left it open.  Luckily, the equipment was all locked up in the storage room.  I was told later that during the show, kids kept running in and out of the gym, playing around the ring.  A few kids had their skateboards in there.

8.  I have to remember to use the stool and the buckets.  The riggers brought stools to use in the corners.  However, I did not have Ashley, Man-Man, or Nassir sit down in the corner between rounds.  It didn't occur to me to use the stool until Jordan's fight.  I forgot to bring out the spit buckets, too.