Training, Tournaments and Painting

Rojan watches a sparring match at Loyola Park in the photo above.

No kids or adults showed up to LaFollette gym, as I have come to expect on the weekend.  But Janae and Terrance were there for the teens' class.  I didn't suggest that any sparring take place because Janae has almost zero experience with that, and I didn't want to take a chance with putting her in with Terrance.  However, I was pleased to know that Janae does shadow box on her own when she's not able to come to the gym.

I've made some more phone calls to coaches to set up the sparring session next month.  It's hard to catch people because they are usually working the same time that I am.  But I want to make it work because most of the youths in my gym really need the sparring practice.  It won't be long before the park district boxing shows begin, and I'd like to see everyone who is willing get a chance to participate.

I made it to the Chicago Golden Gloves last night only to miss Ben's (not the one in my teen class, but the one who trains at Loyola Park) fight.  Alan told me that Ben did a great job, but the judges gave the win to the other guy.  I made a point of telling the teens at my gym that they have to do the best they can not to leave the outcome of a fight in the judges' hands.  In other words, they have to work hard to make sure the judges have no choice but to hand them the win.

I've been hearing that the people who now own the Chicago version of the tournament are happy with it being out at Cicero Stadium.  But judging by the low turnout, the audiences still aren't down with the idea.  Even when the tournament moved away from St. Andrews, where it had been for decades, to Gordon Tech high school, the crowds were huge and the vibe was high.  That hasn't been the case since the Golden Gloves have been held out in the suburbs.

A check of the attendance sheets for the LaFollette spring boxing session showed that Elizabeth hasn't been signed up like she told me.  People may think I'm being mean, but I kind of hope that she doesn't.  After all, it seems odd to me that a girl who has been telling me for over a year that she doesn't want to box now all of a sudden is interested in the sport.  She's already told me she doesn't want to spar, which is problematic in a program that is set up for youths to compete.  I like Elizabeth, but I'd rather not have yet another kid just holding a place in class when another kid who wants to learn the sport and would actually do the work could have that spot.

Several boys kept coming into the gym being disruptive.  I kept putting them out (I have no problem or reservations with doing that).  Later, the same group of urchins came in with a woman who was related to a couple of them.  It appears that everyone still hasn't received the message that the Chicago Park District has gone paperless in terms of registrations.  While I was explaining online registration to the adult, the boys kept messing with the equipment.  I had to get loud with them a couple of times.  I apologized to the adult for my outburst towards the kids, but I have to also start letting the adults know that I'm not going to tolerate discipline problems out of their kids.  If their kids don't follow the rules and regulations, they're gone.  It's just that simple.

I've been toying with the idea of not allowing the youths to spar if they show up late on the days when sparring takes place.  There are still problems with youths taking too long to wrap their hands (because of goofing around), then not starting their workout right away.  No matter how many times I point out that showing up late cuts down on what they'll be able to do that day in terms of training, tardiness keeps happening.  The next step beyond that is just not allowing them to participate in tournaments due to lack of not being on time, and not training well on top of that, regardless if it was a sparring day or not.

Finally learned what happened to Deja -- she's in the gymnastics class.  Deja was one of the kids who had good potential (and her brother Terry had started to come along as well).  But it seems that gymnastics is a better fit for her.

Maybe when I come in next week, the painters will finally have finished painting the supply room.  Trust me, it's not a big job.  The painters seem to have a habit of stretching out jobs for some reason.  I could have gotten it done in a day or two.  Having painted my mother's house inside and out a few times when I was younger, I do know something about how to paint.