Going, Going. . .Finally Gone

The adult boxing class at LaFollette Park is now officially off the schedule.  Today, I expanded the hours for the youth and teen winter classes which will begin in January.  The number of participants who can register for those classes were raised as well.

I tried with the adult class.  If I had not asked for that class to be canceled, I'm sure the park district would have eventually ended it.  The main issues were too few registrations and low attendance numbers.  I expected to have a vibrant class similar to the adult boxing class at Loyola Park, but it just did not work.  Initially, I was told that adults were eager to have a boxing class at LaFollette, but that proved to be false.

Now I'm thinking that an adult boxing program was a bad fit for LaFollette from the jump.  The kids and teens need that program more.  Youths in neighborhoods such as Austin need as many positive programs as possible to keep them away from what lays in wait for them out in the streets.  Some of the youths don't fully commit to the program.  Too many of them are forced into it by parents who think they're doing what is best for their kids without actually asking the kids what they want.  Other parents and guardians use the class as a time killer to keep their kids away from the house as much as possible and try to put me into the position of being a glorified babysitter.  But at least the kids do show up.  I do get a few kids who are actually interested in the sport and are willing to put in the work.  Most of the adults just wasted their money by disappearing after showing up once or twice.

Of course, this means I'll have to rearrange my lesson plans again.  But I feel that the change will make the program more manageable and give it more room to grow.