I Don't Take Orders

The summer day camp coordinator got angry with me yesterday because I locked the door to the gym.  Let me back up.  Just about every day I get to work, the door to the gym is open.  Yesterday, both the door next to the stairwell leading downstairs and the main gym doors were open.  Summer camp was over for the day, yet the camp coordinator felt they should be able to keep marching kids through the area. 

I lock the doors behind me when I get in.  Class begins a half-hour after I get there, and I use that time to set the gym up.  Every day, I set out gloves, the ring timer, the clock, jump ropes, medicine balls, the balance board, the footwork cones, and water bottles for the participants to use.  I don't need to be distracted by random youths and adults roaming into the gym during that time.  I don't open the doors again until five or ten minutes before class begins. 

"Why did you do that?" she demanded when I opened the door after I heard her and several kids banging on it.  She doesn't look anything like my mother when she was alive, and even less so now that Ma is deceased.  I ignored her.  "I know you heard me when I told you to leave the door open!" she snapped.  She may have mumbled something to me in passing when I first got there, but remember folks, I'm an old woman.  I don't hear so well sometimes.  Maybe being post-menopausal has something to do with that.  At any rate, I don't take orders from people who don't sign my paychecks.  I especially didn't feel the need to respond to her since she believes I'm a monster towards kids simply because I never gave birth to any.

"I'm tired of this!" I heard her grumbling as I continued to go about doing my job.  Maybe she complained to our supervisor about me -- again.  Whatever.  My reaction to her foul attitude reminded me of a statement one of those TV judges made to a youth standing in their courtroom: "I don't argue with children." 

Signs and Possible Forgery

I made courtesy calls to a few teens who still haven't shown up for the spring session.  However, one of the people I called was not a teen.  "You're asking to speak to my parents?  Really?  Are you serious?" they told me.  Turns out it was the 30-year-old mom of Malik.  She had a major attitude, and I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  It appears that Malik may have attempted to sign himself up for the boxing class.  But he put his mother's name in the spot where his name should have been.

If attempted forgery was the case here -- and I hope for Malik's sake it was not -- then he and I are going to an even more unpleasant conversation than the one I had with his mother.  I'm always telling youths that they can't put their John Hancock on nothing unless they are 18 years old.  Their parents and/or guardians have to give permission for them to do any activity at the park district.  Technically, Malik is still not registered for the class.

Having been long tired of the summer camp kids trashing my gym as well as Tina and the seasonal summer camp staff not doing anything to prevent it, I made some new signs.  The signs clearly state what the summer camp kids and seasonal summer camp staff are NOT to do in the gym.  The signs have gone up now so people can read and act accordingly before summer gets here.  Touching the equipment, climbing into the boxing ring, eating and drinking on the boxing ring, tampering with bulletin boards and signs, not cleaning up after themselves -- all are forbidden to do.  I ended the sign with "Have a problem with these rules?  See me."  I don't allow my fighters to disrespect and disrupt the spaces and classes/activities in the building that staff members run.  However, the same respect is not given to me. 

Wednesday Is For Sparring

Five kids -- David, Iz, Abraham, Jamire, and Maurice -- sparred yesterday.  David and Iz made for a good match as they were suited for each other.  Maurice took a hit from Iz later and was sobbing for a bit.  But he got back in with Abraham.  Jamire was done after a couple of rounds.

The gym was busy.  This time, it was me that overbooked the class.  There are currently 13 kids on the roster.  Eight of them showed up yesterday.  All of the boys, with the exception of Jamire, appear to be interested in boxing.  The two girls, Jayda and Rosemary, aren't.  Jayda didn't show up yesterday, but Rosemary did.  I didn't have to deal with the girls constantly huddling together to talk instead of working out.  However, Rosemary doesn't follow instructions nor listen well.  I had to use one of my late mother's expressions to wake her up.  "Stop standing there looking and move," I told her.

Jamire showed me there was a bit of blood on his mouthpiece.  I believe he had sparred with Abraham.  I was already irritated because Jamire was running his mouth to me while the other kids were sparring.  "I can't have people talking to me while I need to pay attention to this," I told the kid.  When I saw the mouthpiece, I told Jamire, "Just go into the washroom and wash it off.  It can't be that hard to do!"  I always get the feeling that Jamire is used to being babied, but I won't do that, especially in a boxing gym.

I asked Uriah's parent why he hasn't shown up to the teen class yet.  "Oh, he decided he doesn't want to do it," she told me.  Luckily, that class is not full, because if anyone was on the wait list, Uriah would be dropped from the class.  His mother told me she'll try to convince him to attend, but that falls under the "don't do me any favors" file.  The kid signed up in the middle of the session and is already skipping class?  No thank you.

It appears the new signs I put up in the gym telling people not to use the boxing ring as a kitchen table are working.  Last week, I found an open carton of apple juice and other food left on the apron of the gym.  No doubt that one of the summer camp wonders did that, and no surprise that Tina and the camp counselors didn't do anything to stop it from happening.  Lately, the ring's canvas has been devoid of food crumbs.  I hope that continues the rest of the weeks the disruption, uh, summer camp, continues.

Meanwhile At Mandrake

There was a coaches' meeting held at Mandrake.  Basically, it was for the purposes of picking up this year's T-shirts for the boxing participants, hoodies to award to the most improved boxer in our gyms, and fliers and signs advertising the boxing shows.

When I arrived, Jeff, the coach at Taylor Park, hugged me and said, "The champ is here!"  I had hobbled there on my cane, having taken public transportation to get to the meeting.  Thank God Alan was there because I couldn't have carried a box of T-shirts back on the train.  He'll keep them in his car until I can pick them up from him next week.

Thomas asked me why were the summer camp kids allowed to be in the gym at LaFollette when I'm not there.  I had mentioned to him my concerns about the gym equipment and bulletin boards being tampered with as well as food being dropped on the floor.  Summer camp begins next week.  I learned that kids should not be in any park district boxing gym if the coach is not present.  The idea is to prevent accidents from happening due to kids playing around on the equipment.  I emailed my boss and cc'd the summer camp coordinator with the information I received from Thomas as soon as I arrived home.  I'm certain I will get push back from the summer camp counselor as the kids' presence in the gym has been a touchy spot between her and me for the past two summers.  However, I have to follow the rules of the program I'm working under, and the camp counselor will have to respect that rule.

Coaching In Two Places

I was coaching more than I was working out at Loyola Park.  Marta needed help with a bobbing and weaving move that Alan had showed her the previous week.  She was a little frustrated with what she perceived as her slow progress, and she wanted to do better.  Marta practiced that move for the majority of the evening.  Alan told her he'd like to get her sparring at some point.

After weeks of mostly inactivity on my part, I was moving better while I was at Loyola.  I spent a lot of time on the double-end bag slipping and ducking.  When I returned to LaFollette Park the following day, I did some shadowboxing during the hour when the eight-to-twelve year olds are in the gym.  A lot of it I was doing to give James an example.  James is doing better, but he still needs to work on his footwork and general body movement.

I had a feeling I should check the class rosters.  Looks like someone slipped another kid into the eight-to-twelve year old class without telling me.  They also disregarded the fact -- again -- that the class was over the established limit of people that should be there.  I was glad that the latest kid didn't show up.  I'm in the middle of preparing whom I have on hand for the boxing shows.  I really don't have the time, nor interest, to deal with another person who is coming into the class nearly a month after it has already started.

The teen class is now full, and hopefully, other staff will respect the class limit (as well as the fact that the class is nearly halfway over) and not register anyone else.  Ben finally showed up to the gym, and brought along two of his cousins, Devin and Lacey, who are now signed up for the class.  Ben's father remained in the gym with them and ran them through a workout.

No adults bothered to show up for their class.  Instead, talky Elizabeth and her older sister Samaia decided to hang out in the gym to kill time until they had to go somewhere else.  Once again, I had to remind Elizabeth that she's not in the class, so she can't use the equipment (a conversation that I'm really tired of constantly having with her).  Elizabeth started talking about signing up for the class, like she always does, but she's not interested in sparring nor competing.  It was established back around the time the spring session began that her mother does not want her in the class.  Maybe Elizabeth thinks if she keeps bringing it up, her mom will magically change her mind.  I don't think that's going to happen.

I can accept the adults telling me they don't want to compete.  Most are just looking for a different type of exercise.  When I hear kids telling me they don't want to spar, they don't want to compete. . . .I'm sorry, but I wonder why they signed up for the class.  That's what the class is designed for -- to give youths the chance to show their skills.  My experience so far is if a kid is in the class for some other purpose other than competing, soon, I will have a bored, restless kid on my hands who won't have motivation to only do the workout.  A kid being bored and restless often leads to them disrupting the class which I'm not going to tolerate.

Maybe I shouldn't grumble.  At least I haven't had to deal much with the summer camp kids this time around, nor the wear and tear those kids had put on the gym last year.  So far, so good.

A Gym Full Of Cousins

Now Kishaun doesn't want to jump rope in addition to not wanting to shadow box.  "I don't like jumping rope," he told Rocky.  Both Rocky and I explained that jumping rope is for stamina, coordination, and footwork.  But Kishaun kept complaining.  Rocky told him, "Just for that, you'll jump rope every day next week."

Slowly, the kids and teen boxing classes are gaining participants for the fall season.  Ashanti, a cousin to Derrick Jr. and Kishaun, signed up.  I joke to myself that the youth classes are being filled up by Rocky's relatives.

Joseph, another of Rocky's relatives, is planning to sign up, but he lives out in the western suburbs, as does Tyrone.  The park district's usual policy is that if someone who lives outside of city limits partakes in a class or activity, they have to pay a higher fee.  That doesn't seem to apply to the youth boxing classes, which are free.  I'm more concerned about the suburban kids being able to come to class on a regular basis.  Most have to depend on someone driving them there. If they can't get a ride for any reason, that's another day of missed training.

Nassir ran in and ran out of the gym, not doing a workout.  Looks like I'm going to have to have a talk with his mother regarding whether boxing is a good fit for her son.

I hope Mel and Ben return for the adult class, even if they continue to split their time between the fitness center and boxing.  I like having them, and Ben's sister, Alex, in the class.

In light of the speed bag I had hung up to be used as a slip bag being torn down last week, I'm now concerned about having other equipment in the gym.  The ring is showing wear and tear from the two months of hell the summer camp kids inflicted on it.  The heavy bags took some damage, too, and the bulletin board closest to the entrance door was targeted for vandalism.  Thank God I could lock up the gloves, headgear, jump ropes, etc., or else those would have been destroyed and/or stolen.  If I can arrange to keep the summer camp kids out of my gym next year, I will.  Summer camp is for a short time, but my program is all year long. The equipment needs to remain in good condition for my fighters.

Another Walkout and More Vandalism

I walked into the gym to find an old speed bag, which I had hung up for the fighters to use as a slip bag, had been torn down and thrown to the floor.  I had just hung that up yesterday, as well as a new slip bag I purchased from Ringside. I guess the rope holding up the new slip bag was too hard to pull down, which was why that was still hanging.  I have no doubt that one of the little wonders were literally swinging on the speed bag that came down.

So I go to the camp director -- again.  I had the downed speed bag in my hands.  "The kids were only in there to get their lunch, but they didn't eat in there," she said.  Regardless of the fact that the summer camp kids don't eat in the gym often, they're always in there long enough to mess with the equipment.  The camp counselors never seem to put the kids in check about that unless I happen to be on the premises yelling at the kids to stay off the equipment.  Fortunately, one of the attendants backed me up.  They had been in the gym to clean earlier in the morning.  "I didn't see that bag on the floor when I was in there.  It had to be one of the summer camp kids who did that," they said.

The camp director had no answer -- again.  I walked away, loudly grumbling, "I'll be glad when these summer camp kids are gone!"  "You and me both, so we can get back to a regular schedule!" the attendant said in agreement.

Later, Nassir and Derrick Jr. showed up for boxing class.  Derrick Jr. was working hard as usual.  Nassir rolled into the place twenty minutes late, then dawdled around for several minutes more.  I kept getting on Nassir to follow the workout schedule which is in black and white, and in plain English up on one of the bulletin boards.  But Nassir didn't want to listen, nor do what was required. "Do you want to win the next fight?' I asked him.  Apparently tired of my nagging, Nassir left early, but not before leaving a parting shot.  "I'll just get out of your way," I was told.  Nassir comes to the gym when the mood hits, often shows up late, is seldom focused on the workout, and then tries to put me on a guilt trip?  Very few have been successful in sending me on those journeys; Nassir better ask somebody.

Locked Doors and Missed Sparring

I was tired Monday night, but I went up to Loyola Park anyway.  Usually that is the only time of the week where I actually get some real exercise in.  I begged off sparring with Kelly, however.  My knees took a pounding from walking extensively through two street festivals the day before.

Not many people were in attendance which is the usual for this time of year.  But it is always such a pleasure to go to a gym where there are mirrors for shadow boxing, a speed bag, and more than one heavy bag up -- all things which LaFollette Park's gym still doesn't have.  I ordered a slip bag over the weekend, but I don't plan to put it up until LaFollette's summer camp is completely over.  I don't need any of the summer camp kids swinging on it and tearing it down.

The kids and teen boxing classes were empty today at LaFollette.  Before the adult class began, I noticed that the outermost door leading to the gym was closed.  People know I'm down here.  Why in the hell was the door closed?  I thought to myself.  Ben, BJ, and Alex showed up for the adult class.  Just as I was closing up the gym after they left, Rocky showed up with Derrick, Kishaun, and a couple of new boys who wanted to join the classes.  They told me they had showed up earlier, but the outermost door was locked.  When they went up to the front desk to ask if class was taking place, they were allegedly told that I was either walking along the track in the park or I was on break.

Really?  I haven't had time to walk on the track surrounding the football field since last summer.  And when do I go on break?  I don't really get breaks; I'm always in the gym.  Rocky and the boys were disappointed that they missed out on sparring.  I was irritated that they had been given some wrong information about my whereabouts.  Also, the outermost door being locked was probably the work of the kids who are attending the late summer camp and/or the camp counselors.  They didn't come inside the gym, thank goodness, to get their afternoon snack.  The kids went directly into the Teen Club room down the hallway from the gym (where the kitchen is) to get fed.

Since I still haven't received the fliers I requested, I called the other coaches to let them know about the sparring session I'm having on the last day of the summer session.  I didn't catch anybody as most of their classes start later in the day, but I did leave messages.  Next week is another boxing show -- this time at Ogden Park -- so I'll spread the word more when I get there.

The Summer Fifteen

This photo of my nieces (my late younger sister's daughters) is from a couple of years ago when they visited me at Loyola Park.  Today is Jalissa's birthday; she's the one on the left.  Her sister Erica is on the right.

A guy came to LaFollette's boxing gym yesterday with his quiet, nine year old son.  The 12 year old and under class is full, but since the the dad was so sincere about wanting his son to take boxing, I took his son in.  The dad is also willing to be a volunteer in the gym.  But then he added, "I have two other kids who really are interested in doing this, too."  Now I have a whopping 15 -- count 'em -- 15 kids in that class.

I had planned to take on some extra kids anyway because of summer.  But I have to shut the door on any more participants for my own sanity.  It is likely that not all of them will keep showing up on a regular basis after the first week or so.  Having five extra kids in the class is somewhat like insurance padding for the ones whom will drop out.  It's an experiment that I'm only going to do for this upcoming session.  I'm not going to add extra participants in any of the youth classes for the fall, winter, and spring sessions.

The routine for that class is going to have to be adjusted because the younger kids only have an hour to train from here on in.  The shorter time will likely work better because I can really have the kids focus on one or two skills each class meeting.  The hour does not allow for any playing around, however.  Kids who don't focus will find the class time is over before having learned much.

Time keeps slipping away as the July boxing show approaches.  Shanita and Julius did not show up to the gym yesterday, and neither did Kishaun.  There's only about two weeks and a half available for training before the show.  Kishaun's dad used to box, so I'm hoping there's some training going on at home.  Shanita plays basketball, but that's not boxing, and Julius is probably not doing any exercise at all.

I'll be working extra hours when the summer session begins.  I wish the extra hours involved boxing.  Extra hands are needed to help with the summer camp activities.  Summer camp is yet another situation where how well it goes depends on the attitudes of the kids involved.