Expectations Of The Usual

Today is the first day of the spring session at the boxing gym.  Unfortunately, my expectations are low.  First of all, I don't feel like dealing with a crowd of kids today.  I've mentioned before that I'm part of the childfree community, so my feelings about kids ebbs and flows.  According to the attendance roster, the class for those who are 12 and under is currently full.  How many actually show up today remains to be seen.

I already know that two in that group -- Damaris and Diego -- can't do the five days a week.  Probably someone else in that age range is going to tell me after the fact that they can't train every day, either.  I'll inform them that I will not put anyone in a fight who is not training regularly, and both the kids and the parents will have an issue with that.  Let two weeks or less go by, and most kids will start skipping days with no word to me as to why.  That is one of the reasons why I will never again run a class for kids that is 90 minutes long.  The attention span is just not there.

To my knowledge, the teen class has never been full on the first day of any session.  There are currently five teens registered, and one of them is a member of the North Lawndale Boxing League who "represented" LaFollette in the recent City-Wide Boxing Tournament.  I don't expect that teen to ever show up.  The first chance I get, I'm withdrawing them out of the class.  If the class does fill up, that usually doesn't happen until the fifth or sixth week.  Even then, most who act like they are so interested to be there will stop showing up not long after they register.  I've already given out --against my better judgment -- paper registration forms to two teen boys who seem to more interested in posing as boxers than actually being boxers.  I haven't received the forms back.

Only one person, the first male I've had in there for awhile, is registered so far for the adult class.  Sahia is now a park district volunteer, so the fee is waived for her.  However, her daughter Rachey is not officially registered yet.  Doneisha's son Tony is in the kids' class, but she hasn't re-registered herself for the adult class.  I don't expect to see Misty again; she showed up very late in the winter session, and only one time.  She lives closer to Taylor Park, which is on the south side.  LaFollette Park is a long way to travel for a class.  I'll be surprised if that class becomes even half-full.  Despite advertisements and marketing on my part, most adults still aren't aware there is a boxing class for them.  Some do but expect to train for free, and get an attitude when they find out that isn't allowed.  
The only thing I can do at the point is to keep clamping down on rules and adding new ones as situations present themselves.  Marty, the coach at Simons Park, told me that the boxing program goes up and down.  "Some seasons you get a good group of people, and other seasons the coach is lucky to get one or two who are serious," he said.