Funny, But Not Funny

Jules, the teen who constantly asks questions yet has no listening skills, finally showed up at the boxing gym. "I know how to box," he told me. At that moment, I decided I was not doing any coaching. I leaned against the equipment table and let Jules show me what he knew.

The first clue that Jules' knowledge wasn't extensive was the fact the teen did not know how to wrap his hands. He had his own pair of boxing gloves, however. I also learned that Jules did not know what the bell timer was, nor the difference between the heavy and speed bags. Jules' punches were sloppy and unfocused. No head movement was done, and Jules' footwork was dismal. Every question he asked that most boxers would know I responded dryly to with, "I thought you knew how to box, Jules."

It was very hard to keep from laughing sarcastically, even though in reality, the situation wasn't funny. I didn't hold back on making sarcastic comments, however.  Jules is slow on the draw but manages to catch when I'm not in the mood for bull. He asked, "Is everything okay?" "Just fine, I'm just fine," I answered, barely hiding my smirk. I feel sometimes that Jules is trying to make me feel guilty for not acting friendly, but I got news for him - it won't work.

Finally, Jules said he never took one boxing lesson before. It was more like goofing around with friends after halfway paying attention to a boxing match on TV. "I know that this is going to be hard," Jules said, but I doubt that there is a clear understanding of what work has to go into learning the sport.

I was asked, "How late can I be to class?" followed by "I can't be here every day," because Jules is playing basketball. Jules begged me for weeks to be in the class. After finally getting that I was not going to let anyone in the class who had not registered, he brought his mom in to fill out the form. After all of that, it took three weeks for Jules to bring himself to the gym. Then Jules had the nerve to tell me what he can and can't do? Coach James told me Jules is a good kid. I don't know good kids who are manipulative, selfish, trying to run games on adults, hard-headed, and giving the impression of being uncoachable.

Time Out and Time Put In

I'm going to stop telling the youths and the adults that I don't force boxing class participants to compete. For too long, that has given everybody an out when it comes to participating fully in the program. It has led to numerous attendance and discipline problems in the gym.

I've been blindsided too many times by those who, after beginning the class, tell me they don't want to fight. Most of the adults will tell me that upfront. However, few of the youths do. Days and weeks pass by before I learn the youths have no real goals they want to accomplish in the class.  In the meantime, I've wasted my efforts by showing them advanced boxing methods they never plan on using.

From now on, those who don't want to compete will only be shown the basic moves. After that, they are free to use the equipment to their hearts' desire. However, I will not show them anything further. Those advanced moves will be reserved for those who actually want to fight and win. Hopefully, that will cut down on the number of youths who aren't interested, as they will quickly drop out of class or just not bother to re-register again for the class.

As for the adults, most of them don't want to compete, so only giving them the basics so they can do a workout should suffice. Many of the adults don't have the time or energy to put into competing due to the responsibilities they have outside of the gym. Positioning their time in the gym as an exercise class works out better.

Lately, I've been concerned about when I'm not able to be at the gym, mainly due to illness and injury. The contract between the labor union and the park district made late last year still does not allow for most part-time employees, including me, to receive health insurance.  Part-timers can accrue sick time, and personal days add up slowly. But part-times don't get vacation time, and judging by the issues we have to deal with from staff and customers alike, most of us need time off to decompress. Unfortunately, sick days have to substitute for the vacation days. That is not a good situation for part-time employees who may have to use the sick days to recover from illness, only not to have enough time on the books for also having to use those days just to have time off.

Doubling Down

Rick, who has been helping out in the boxing gym, said that youths who are in the program but don't want to compete and/or are participating in other sports should not be hindered from registering. However, no time and effort should be put in on my part to train them. "Let them hit the bags all they want, but spend time on the youths who really want to fight," Rick said.

I've been doing that for a while, but I've also begun to double down on my expectations of people who are in the program. Yesterday, I had to check Jules' mother about what I was not going to continue to put up with from her son. I wasn't going to bother making a courtesy call. However, I was curious about what was going on since Jules had begged me for weeks to be in the class. She registered him for boxing on January 17th, and that was the only day Jules has been in the gym. I was told that Jules has been involved in some activity at school this week, but that didn't explain why her son was not in the class on the other days. "If Jules doesn't want to follow rules, then Jules need not show up to the gym," I informed her.

Tiyana has also been gone for weeks with no explanation. Jamire dropped out after the first week after I announced I wasn't tolerating the same behavior that Jamire displayed three years ago when he was in the gym. Jaquazz and Amarion have been missing, and Richard has been skipping days. Elijah and Jazzmyne can only attend the program once a week for the time being.  None of the adults who are registered have been showing up for class. I was talking about possibly attending the City-Wide Boxing Tournament this year, but that is looking like a no-go again for this year.

My supervisor asked for a list of what equipment I need, and I gave it to him. Whether or not I get what I asked for is another issue. The football, basketball, and baseball teams never deal with a lack of resources because they get help from some of the professional sports organizations in town. The coach of those teams is also allowed to have fundraisers, but for reasons that still aren't exactly clear, I'm not allowed to do that for boxing. Even the swim team gets some outside support. I'm at the mercy of depending on whether there is enough money in the field house's budget.