There Are Other Reasons Than Money

There are PSAs currently running on television bemoaning the fact that kids are dropping out of youth sports.  CBS News recently released a report stating that middle-class and poor kids are pulling out of sports due to not being able to afford to participate in them.  Lack of money is an issue especially in certain sports like tennis and golf, which carry heavier prices to play than others.   know of at least a couple of kids who dropped out of the boxing program because of their parents not being able to afford money for gas or bus fare to get the kids to the gym.  That happens.  However, lack of money is not the sole reason for the lack of participation in every case.

Technology is heavily to blame.  We now live in a world where playing video games is considered a sport.  There are massive gaming competitions that take place, some on a worldwide level.  I've had kids in the boxing gym tell me they can't wait until class is over so they can go home to their XBoxes, Nintendo Switches, and Play Stations.  Often, the kids are registered for my program because their parents and guardians want to keep them from sitting and playing video games constantly. 

It appears that many grade schools have cut back on physical education classes.  Some grade schools don't have those classes at all.  Of the ones who still do, kids have told me they play kickball or dodge ball during the classes.  They don't do exercises.  I know because of all the blank looks I receive when I ask the kids to do crunches, push-ups, leg raises, etc.  The kids don't know how to do any of that.  It makes me wonder if the kids are moving much during recess if that is still allowed in most schools.  I'm guessing recess is probably another chance to play video games on their cell phones.

Housework is a way to get exercise.  Judging by the kids I deal with, it doesn't seem they are required to do that at home.  A kid on one of the sports teams at the field house asked me where he could find a broom and I pointed to a nearby utility closet.  They pulled out a mop.  When I corrected them, they went back to the closet and pulled out another mop.  I remember another kid telling me they shouldn't have to do housework because their only job should be to have fun. 

Parents who don't support the youth programs are another reason.  I have to deal with parents who use my program for babysitting purposes and don't care what their kids are doing while in class. On the other side of the coin are helicopter parents who push their kids to the point where the kids no longer find sports fun.  Those same parents grumble to me and the volunteer about everything from the length of the gym hours to the quantity of equipment available for use. 

The cries about kids dropping youth sports don't tell all of the stories. 

Keeping Youths In

I had to attend another instructor's meeting today.  The topic of how to keep youths in the park district programs came up.  Several people, including me, pointed out that if there is no cooperation from parents and guardians, keeping youths in the programs is very difficult.

When dealing with a parent or guardian who displays an indifferent attitude about their kid's presence in the boxing program, my attitude is "If the parent/guardian doesn't care, I don't care either."  It's a waste of my energy to keep trying to convince people that it is beneficial for their kids to show up.  It is very frustrating, and heartbreaking as well when I notice that a kid really likes boxing and wants to be there but has no support at home.

However, if I also have to deal with a kid being disrespectful, lazy, rude, etc., on top of their parent or guardian's indifference, I'm done.  I don't agree with what appears to be the park district's thought that I should keep someone around at all costs just to show I have the numbers.  I'm not shy about telling people that their child needs to sign up for something else.  A small number of motivated, teachable kids and teens is more pleasant to take.  It beats having a crowded gym full of youths who really don't want to be there, who have been registered by their parents and guardians for the wrong reasons, etc.

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A manager at the meeting told the attendees that we need to plan for next year.  I always plan to have someone compete at the City-Wide Boxing Tournament and in the Chicago Golden Gloves.  I always plan what to do to get the kids to those competitions.  My plans have yet to work out because once again, it depends on whether or not I get cooperation from parents and guardians.  Some parents and guardians never talk to me; they just dump their kids off and leave (or have someone else do that).  It was suggested that maybe employees should reach out and ask them what they may need in terms of getting their kids to the program regularly.  That's been done, too -- mostly by the gym volunteer because I don't have the patience or the time, frankly -- and still, no good results.  It makes me wonder if some of the parents and guardians are operating like that with their kids' school teachers.  

A major part of any park district program working effectively is having the parents/guardians and the person running the program act as a team to make the program enjoyable and worthwhile for the youths.  If that's not happening, then the program suffers.

Parents Don't Run Programs

"The parents do not run these programs."  That statement has been repeated frequently to me over the past several weeks.

Recently, a parent told me they don't want their kid participating in any boxing shows for at least a year.  They feel their kid needs to train more. Their kid has been in the program for several months and has a good presence.  They're more than ready to take on a boxing match.  Languishing in the gym for several more months without being able to test their skills out, especially when other kids are competing, is not a good idea.  There are already signs that the kid is getting bored and treating their time in the gym as a time for socializing instead of training.

There is another kid in the class who has been there almost a year and has yet to participate in a boxing show.  Their parent has also made similar statements about not wanting their kid to be in fights until they've trained for months.  That parent also has issues about other kids interacting with their kid.  But I'm not running a private boxing gym and working with highly paid fighters who have the luxury of picking and choosing whom they will fight with and when.  I'm dealing with a city-run operation that puts heavy emphasis on the quantity of youths in the class and expects maximum participation.

There have been problems with people not attending the gym on Saturday, which is the day sparring takes place.  I changed sparring to that day partially based on some parents telling me that it was easier for them to come to the gym to watch their kids on that day.  Now I'm hearing Saturday is a problem because the parents -- not the kids -- have scheduled other things to do on that day. It was suggested to me to switch sparring back to a weekday, if only temporarily, to give at least one of the kids who has been skipping Saturdays a chance to spar.  I seriously doubt I'm going to do that because there are other kids can be present on that day and whose parents have an interest in making sure they are in the gym.

Over the past four years, I have gained a good idea of what works for the boxing program in general.  I do know that the program -- or any other park district program -- can't run properly if schedules and lesson plans are constantly being changed around based on the personal calendars of the participants. I've come to the point where I have just about set the boxing gym schedule in stone.  I'm not going to make anymore concessions to people who don't want to abide by it.

Saturday Is Better

When I initially floated the idea to some of the parents about moving sparring from Friday to Saturday, I was met with approval.  The parents wanted to watch their kids spar, but admitted that it was not easy to arrange their schedules to be in the boxing gym on a weekday.  Based on that information, when I change the sparring day around, that will be a permanent schedule change instead of just making that for summer only.

Sparring used to be on Saturdays when I first started working for the park district.  The intent was to have it on a day when school and perhaps other activities were not a factor.  But then most youths, and the adult participants as well, were not showing up on Saturdays.  I switched sparring back to weekdays thinking it was easier to draw people into the gym, especially youths coming out of school for the day.

Now I realize that I've been accommodating and compromising with people for way too long.  The boxing gym hours are what they are.  I should have never been doing constant adjustments in a futile attempt to work with every one's personal schedules.  Either youths and adults deal with the days, times, and training schedule of the boxing program or they don't.

In addition to Saturday being an easier day for busy parents to come in and see their kids' progress, it works better with the park district's boxing show schedule.  The City-Wide Boxing Tournament, as well as the weekly boxing shows that take place between June and February take place on weekdays. If someone had a hard fight on a Thursday, the day weekly boxing shows currently take place, it wouldn't do to have them sparring back at the gym on a Friday.  This is especially true if fighters were injured.  I could let them skip the gym on Friday to rest and give them the option of sparring on Saturday, if they felt up to it.  They could also skip Saturday, depending on what happened at a Thursday fight and start again the following week.

Everyone would have four solid days of training, instead of having that broken up by sparring on Friday, and then returning on Saturday for a regular training day.  I could further keep track of who is just showing up to spar, cutting down on some participants' willingness to fight but not train.

No matter what I do in terms of scheduling, however, there is always going to be some who aren't going to attend the class regularly, and those who will show up but won't train.  I don't doubt that there will be people -- the youths, mostly -- who will complain about the change of sparring day.  But running that program efficiently is more important to me.

Complaints and Walkouts

I have mentioned before how much I appreciate that Sahia is volunteering in the boxing gym.  She has more patience with most of the youths than I do.  She is very encouraging towards them, and Sahia is firm but fair.  Her teenage children, Noel and Mikaela, are well-raised, thoughtful, and considerate.  Although they were not official park district volunteers, they helped out with the younger kids as well as the teens.  Unfortunately, once the spring session ends next month, they will no longer go to LaFollette Park.

It started during a sparring day several weeks ago.  Not every youth is able to be evenly matched during sparring sessions.  Several of the youths told Sahia and I they wanted to spar, but they were nervous about who they might face in the ring.  Noel and Mikaela agreed to do light sparring with those kids to ease their fears.  Neither of the teens was going to go full force with any of the younger kids.  Noel and Mikaela kept their word under the watchful eye of their mother and myself.

One of the kids who sparred with Noel was told by Sahia to keep their mouth closed in order to keep their mouthpiece in place.  I told the kid the same thing after Sahia pointed it out.  The sparring session went well.  However, the kid left the gym early without a word to Sahia or me.  Woman's intuition kicked in; I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

I found out soon enough.  The parent of that kid showed up the next time the gym was open to complain.  They felt Sahia -- who was not in the gym when the parent came in -- was being hard on their kid.  I explained about the rule involving the use of mouthpieces.  The parent then complained about Noel and Mikaela being allowed to spar with the younger kids.  Technically, the parent was not out of line with being concerned.  The boxing classes are divided into age groups for good reason.  But I explained why I made the decision to allow that and how everything was carefully monitored.  I thought the conversation went well and everything was fine.

The next time I arrived at work, the field house supervisor informed me that the parent had called him that morning to complain.  Once again, I had to explain what happened. I've had jobs where I've had to deal with parents before, so I don't necessarily get flustered when parents raise sand.  However, my supervisor doesn't want to deal with incidents that arise out of parents complaining about anything.  Noel and Mikaela would have to fill out volunteer applications.  Fine, that could be done.  Until the applications were approved, the teen siblings could not be allowed to volunteer.

It finally appeared the matter was solved.  But people don't often account for others' feelings in matters.  Noel and Mikaela had reached out to the kid in question long before that sparring day and had been very supportive and nice to them.  I didn't know they had done that on their own.  That is why it hurt me when they said they were not going to return to LaFollette's boxing program after this session is over.  Two of my best fighters are walking because they didn't appreciate how things were handled by the parent in question.  They felt like they had been stabbed in the back as well as been subject to slander.  Things might have been better if the parent had included Sahia, Noel, and Mikaela in the conversation, not just me.  Why that didn't happen, I don't know.   In a gym where the program, frankly, keeps floundering due to various issues, losing supportive people is a knockout blow.

A Dead Transfer and Hordes Of Teenagers

It appears that a coach was hired to run the boxing gym at Eckhart Park, so my attempt to be transferred there is now dead in the water.  For the time being, I'm stuck with a long commute to LaFollette Park, mostly indifferent kids, and parents who don't appear to support the program.  I remember hearing that the community really wanted a boxing program re-opened there before I was hired.  But, honestly?  The community's alleged enthusiasm for a boxing program has never appeared to be very high.  Not by a long shot.  I've been there nearly three years, and my efforts to generate more interest in the boxing program has been difficult to achieve.  That really bothers me because I know how boxing can benefit youths in so many ways in and outside of the ring.

Today is the first day of the summer session for my program.  Alan's class at Loyola Park ended on June 7th, and I believe it doesn't begin again until June 19th.  He's going to have a lot of returning people for his summer session, however.  Several of the guys -- Roman, John, Michael, Ben, Reif, Matt -- expressed interest in fighting at LaFollette's boxing show later this month.  I have to get out the word to the other park district coaches that there are some light heavyweight and heavyweight fighters who are looking to have matches at my show.

William, who looks like a college student, but who is actually 14 years old was in Loyola's gym last night.  I'm assuming that Barry has been giving him permission to come to the adult class for extra training in light of the fact that the boxing shows will soon commence.

Frenchessa was the only other woman who was in the gym last night.  She kept going on the speed bag even though the bell was red.  "I think I'm a good height to box.  It appears there are a lot of tall women in this sport," she said.  A little more height might have helped me while I was competing.  But like an aunt of mine who is 4 foot 10 always says, "Dynamite comes in small packages."  Frenchessa is in her early 20s, and she wants to train for a couple of years before competing.

I saw that another kid signed up for the 12 and under boxing class at LaFollette.  I have not met either of the two new kids who will be joining the class, nor have I talked to their parents.  That bothers me, especially when now the phrase, "please talk to the instructor before registering" is on the paper class schedule and online.  Either parents aren't noticing that request or they are ignoring it.  If it's the latter, that has the possibility of causing negative issues as the class goes on, and I'm never in the mood for that.

Something else I have to watch out for -- hordes of roaming teenagers hanging about in the gym.  Over the last couple of weeks, I've had teens strolling in asking about the class.  Most do not appear to be serious about it, and frankly, I have zero toleration for that.  A few of them were led by Desire, a kid I met when I first started working at LaFollette.  Her younger sister was in the class back then, but Desire was not.  Desire has been talking about signing up recently, but I haven't forgotten her saying "I don't want to box because I don't want people thinking I'm a man!" three years ago.  I suspect her real motivation (like too many of the teen girls at LaFollette) is to position herself in spots where she thinks most of the boys will be.  I like Desire, but I'm not running "The Dating Game" nor "Love Connection" out of the gym.

I'm not running a free babysitting service for parents who want to dump their little darlings off on me because they want them out of the house as much as possible, either.  Neither the youth nor the teen class is filled up completely at the moment.  But give it time.  Several parents, having forgotten once again that summer happens every year, will show up four to five weeks into the session to beg me to take their kids in the class.  The window was missed for putting their little wonders into summer camp, so they have to scramble to find another activity.  Unfortunately, out of that group, I end up with kids who don't want to be in boxing and they scrap the class after a few times.  It happens too often.

Before I forget, I saw the movie Wonder Woman over the past weekend.  It was way better than the other superhero movies of late.  Former boxer Ann Wolfe -- who is now a trainer -- was in the movie.  Her part was small, but I hope if there is a sequel, her character will have a bigger role.  In one scene, it looked like she gave a devastating body shot to a male soldier (the film is set during WWI) who along with other soldiers, had invaded Paradise Island.  She was handling her business for real.

Donovan Saves The Day

James kept pushing one of the heavy bags yesterday while working out on it.  "Hit the bag, James," I kept telling him.  It kept swinging wildly.  "James, don't you know the difference between pushing something and hitting it?" I said as I marched across the gym towards him.  I was about to lose my patience. Fortunately, Donovan got next to him before I did, and proceeded to explain it to him.

Donovan spent several minutes with James, trying to help him stand correctly and to throw his punches properly.  He did a very good job.  I suspect that maybe Donovan is an only child because how articulate he is and how mature he is for his age.  He even lightly admonished Tayjon for standing around instead of training.

I'm still dealing with parents who apparently are just now realizing it's summer, and want their kids to be in an activity.  The time to sign kids up is not two to three days after an activity, especially a free one, has already begun.  I don't understand that -- the information about classes and activities is online, and can also easily be obtained by visiting or calling the field house well in advance of start dates.  My late mother was a very difficult person to be around, but I have to give her credit for always being on top of dates and schedules where her kids were concerned.  I'm not seeing that same kind of proactive behavior in most of the parents I encounter.

Ariel and another new teen, Jaylen, were in the gym yesterday for the teen class.  Jaylen wears braces.  I was so glad that I had a few mouthpieces on hand that are made specifically to fit over braces.  No sign of the other mouthpieces that I ordered going on three months ago.  I don't think I'm going to order those anymore.  It takes too long to get them, for one thing.  I suspect that's not the fault of the company that supplies them, but rather the administrative/bureaucratic functions of the park district.  Most of the kids keep losing them, and I'm going to start forcing them to buy their own.  They may not lose, misplace, or "forget" their mouthpieces as often if they are not getting the free ones anymore.

Xavier, Terence, and Ben were no-shows again.  I'm beginning to suspect that Xavier might not believe he needs a lot of training time.  I also suspect, based on his request awhile ago to have a buddy of his help train him, that Xavier thinks I'm not completely qualified to do the job.  I'm still wondering why Xavier didn't figure out that may have been rude to suggest something like that to me.  Whenever he comes in, I'm going to point out that Xavier need not have a "this is light work" attitude when it comes to opponents, especially when Xavier has no idea whom he might face during a fight.  Terence was involved in other activities during the spring, which was why he was only in the gym once or twice a week.  But school is out for the summer, so I don't know why Terence hasn't increased his time in the gym.  Ben was slacking off a lot during the winter and spring sessions.  I don't expect him to want to take a fight.  Ben has to realize there will never be perfect conditions in place in order for him to participate in a match.

I was going to lock up the gym early when none of the adults were there at the beginning of their class.  A half-hour into it, Maria showed up.  She told me that she had missed the first day of class due to her job.  Her job might have been the reason she showed up late, but she was able to get an hour of working out in.  I have told all of the adults that they are free to craft their own workout.  But in the interest of not having lulls during the workout, I do guide them to what they should be doing next.

Only five more days until the boxing show.  I have to return a phone call to Rodney, who is the coach at Trumbull Park.  He probably wants to know what fighters I have.  I don't think any of the kids will be ready or will want to at least try to take a match.  Xavier, Terence, and Ben are irritating me right now with their disappearances.  None of the adults want to compete.  I want the boxing show to be a good one, but I'm looking at a hard way to go between now and next Thursday to make it so.

What Will Smith Said. . . .Again

Robert Conrad, an actor who is best known for his role on the TV series "The Wild, Wild West" (CBS; 1965-1969), was a boxer for a time.  I discovered that he has a radio show.  You may find it at http://crntalk.com/robertconrad/.  Check it out.

I was reminded of one of Will Smith's biggest rap songs, "Parents Just Don't Understand", a couple of times in the gym yesterday.  Jermaine sparred with Justen, TJ and Suave.  Jermaine's mama raised an objection to her son sparring with Justen because they had sparred a couple of weeks ago.  Justen had got the best of Jermaine that time.  Jermaine did not bother showing up to the gym last week when it was Spring Break, first of all.  Second of all, there were not a lot of kids he could choose from to spar.  Third of all, I'm the coach, and what I say goes.

Justen did not finish his session, whining about how he got hit in the head.  I was NOT in the mood yesterday.  "That's normal in boxing.  What do you think this is?" I snapped.  It was later brought to my attention that other than one session he had with Jermaine some time ago, Justen has never finished three rounds with anybody.  Justen always cuts it short with an excuse.  The next time he does it, he won't be sparring again for a long, long time.

Jermaine delivered low blows to both TJ and Suave, regardless of the fact that I warned him to keep his punches above the belt.  Both of those sparring sessions had to be cut short because of that.  Jermaine started bragging about "winning" again, and I went off on him in front of his mama.  It has just about become impossible for me to hide my frustrations with Jermaine.

Suave didn't want to leave the ring, refusing to accept that I had to stop the sparring in order to keep him from becoming seriously hurt.  I admire that the boy has heart, but Suave's pride often won't allow him to listen to reason.  Eventually, he accepted that sparring was over for that day.  I made a point of then working with him to teach him how to get out of the corners and off the ropes when someone pins him in.

X, whom I hadn't seen for nearly two years, showed up with his son.  His son and his older daughter were a couple of the first kids who signed up for boxing when I was hired to coach.  Both kids dropped out early on.  X wanted to sign his son up again, but the class is full and five weeks have already gone by.  However, X wanted me to bend the rules, not only for his son, but for X to volunteer in the gym without going through the proper channels to be a volunteer.  In addition, X also planned to tell his adult male friends that they can show up to the gym to volunteer and perhaps get a free workout in, presumably without following registration procedures.

This is where I get pissed off.  I do NOT appreciate anyone insisting that I go against what I'm allowed to do within the parameters of my job.  Outside of being disrespected, X's attitude said in so many words that he did not care that I would reap negative consequences for allowing him to do whatever he wants.  I already informed my boss of X's actions.  Now I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable showdown to come.

The Fraternity of Coaches' Meeting

Only Earl, Jaylin, and TJ showed up for the kids' class today.  Earl kept whining because he didn't want to spar with TJ.  Jaylin had already said he didn't want to spar, and I wasn't going to spar with anyone.  Finally I told Earl that he wasn't going to be able to pick and choose opponents in the event that he has a regular match.  Earl and TJ went around for two rounds without either of them suffering any major damage.

The teen and adult classes were canceled out because I had to go to a boxing coaches' meeting.  When I think that I'm the only one having to deal with certain issues at the gym, it's nice to know that the other coaches have encountered those issues at well.  We help each other with suggestions as to how to handle those issues as they come up.

The parents as volunteers issue has always concerned me.  I appreciate the help, but they aren't official park district volunteers.  I let it go when the parents were helping their own kids, but that can't happen anymore.  Sometimes that turns into the parents helping other people's kids. . . .other parents might have an issue with someone around their kid other than the coach.  So I have to figure out a way to diplomatically request that parents stand aside and let the coach run the gym.  If the parents don't want to follow the rule, the only option they have is to leave the gym -- and perhaps take their children with them.

Actual park district volunteers can no longer run the gym when the coach is out.  Tommy, the head of the park district's boxing program, told us, "When you're not there, the gym is closed."  I used to open up Loyola Park gym when Steve was absent, and later on, for Alan.  In some ways that is good.  If something went wrong while the volunteer was in charge, the coach would also get blamed regardless of the fact they weren't there.  But on the other side, if the coach has to be off for whatever reason, the participants miss out on training because the volunteer can't run the gym in the coach's place.

Tommy gave all of the coaches boxes of T-shirts to give out to the boxing participants.  Thankfully, Alan kept my box in his car for me so I could pick it up from him next week.  Otherwise, I would have had to drag it home on the train.  I still have T-shirts from last year.  Not every participant received one; too few people showing up at the gym on a regular basis, and fewer than that actually competing.  This year, I might be able to give more of the T-shirts out.

Lessons From The Boxing Show

1.  Parents can be helpful.  Ashley and Man-Man's dad helped get their wraps on, and he encouraged them during their matches.  Nassir's mom told him to expect to get hurt when someone is throwing punches back.

2.  Parents just don't understand.  I got the feeling that LaKendrick's dad felt that his son was entitled to have a match.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  I wanted the boy to have a match, but there was no one available for him.  The boxing shows are a roll of the dice in terms of who will get a fight.  I can't make a match happen out of thin air.

3.  Kids just don't understand.  Johnathan tried to pull a fast one on me by telling me he had a match when he didn't.  I'm hoping that he watched his fellow gym mates during their fights.  Johnathan needs to realize, like a lot of the kids need to do, that street fighting will not help them in a boxing match.  Nor can they try to get a fight when there is none for them to have.

4.  Some kids need to learn a sense of personal responsibility.  Shanita and her brother Julius have been slacking off for weeks.  I made a fight for Julius, only to learn the boy had gone out of town without a word to me.  He knew he had a fight.  Shanita, who had been going on about wanting to be a professional boxer, didn't bother to attend the show, either.  I won't pre-match Julius again.  If he and his sister continue in boxing and want to participate in the shows, they'll just have to show up and hope they can get matches.

5.  Some kids will not step in a ring again.  I had made a fight for Mya, but at the last minute, she opted not to participate.  Honestly, I don't think she wants to box, but her dad wants her to keep attending the gym.  It remains to be seen whether the other kids in the gym -- regardless if they boxed in the show or not -- will have second thoughts about being in the sport.  Now that they have seen what it really is, some minds might be changing.

6.  The boxing show is a great recruiting tool.  Several parents came up to me during and after the show wanting to put their kids in the boxing class.  Both the kids' and teens' class are full for the summer, but I suspect there will be a lot of people looking to sign up in the fall.  Who knows?  I might even have to create a waiting list.

7.  The gym door has to be locked.  I left it open.  Luckily, the equipment was all locked up in the storage room.  I was told later that during the show, kids kept running in and out of the gym, playing around the ring.  A few kids had their skateboards in there.

8.  I have to remember to use the stool and the buckets.  The riggers brought stools to use in the corners.  However, I did not have Ashley, Man-Man, or Nassir sit down in the corner between rounds.  It didn't occur to me to use the stool until Jordan's fight.  I forgot to bring out the spit buckets, too.

Parents In The Boxing Gym

I know a few boxing coaches who believe parents and guardians are distractions who should never be allowed within 15 feet of a boxing gym.  It's true that boxing gyms attract a lot of people with opinions that don't need to be heard, and some parents and guardians fall into that category.

The welcome mat is out at my gym for parents/guardians, but I'm aware that boundaries have to be set.  There are established rules and set routines that parents/guardians have to respect.  I don't mind if someone shows up to the gym to help their kid with the workout -- for example, Rocky does just that -- if they know what they are talking about.  Rocky had boxed before, so he gives his son solid advice.  That is a great help to me during class.

But there will always be the helicopter parents/guardians who feel that should have a say in everything that goes on.  Coaches only have two options in that situation.  They can be diplomatic, point out their coaching qualifications, and emphasize the importance of the child only listening to one voice in the gym.  Or, they can be blunt and say, "Yes, I do mind that my class is being interfered with." The approach will depend a lot on the parents/guardians' attitude and the extent of the interference in gym activities.

Thoughts About Being A Boxing Coach

Now that I'm the person running a gym as opposed to being a patron and volunteer, it has occurred to me that coaches need support as much as fighters do.  These are my opinions.  Feel free to comment and add other tips. 

1.  Hang out with other coaches.  I still call on Alan at Loyola Park, and keep in contact with Steve, who was the coach there before him.  I'm friendly with several Chicago Park District boxing coaches (Bill, Jack, George, Rodney, etc.), and I know a professional boxing coach (Fernando).  They can offer advice on how to handle different situations, share training techniques, as well as be sympathetic sounding boards when people need to vent. 

2.  Don't forget about others in the fight game.  Promoters, referees, fight doctors, timekeepers, managers, etc.  They are also good sources for advice and information.

3. Family and friends.  I've chronicled my late parents, my stepmother, my late younger sister, and some of my friends' negative reactions to me being involved in boxing.  But I have some cheerleaders.  Always be appreciative of whatever support is gained from this group and let them know what's going on.

4.  Books and DVD.  In an recent post, I mentioned that I've been reviewing some boxing books in my library to get ideas about how to help the fighters I'll be training.  There are also helpful DVDs available about boxing, in addition to other connected subjects such as strength training and nutrition.

5.  Prayer and meditation.  Don't laugh; it works.  Some days in the gym can be tough, and some people's personalities can be trying.  Pray, read your religious texts (Bible, Torah, Koran, I-Ching, etc.), meditate 15 to 20 minutes a day, take deep breaths, chant, count to ten, whatever it takes to remain centered and keep cool. 

6.  Exercise.  I remember Steve telling me that it's hard for a coach to get a workout in because they are helping others.  This is true.  If possible, get a workout in before anyone else gets to the gym.  If there is time at the end, do a workout then.  Otherwise, plan another time, but don't neglect the workout.  I think it's very helpful for a boxing coach to stay fresh on their skills because it helps when training others how to fight. 

7.  Be helpful to co-workers.  This is especially applicable if a boxing coach is an employee in a municipal park district (like me), or employed by a health club franchise.  Just the other day, a kid came up to the front desk and said the basketball gym floor was wet.  I could have just reported it to the attendants, but they were busy doing other tasks.  Instead, I went and got a mop.  I've learned a long time ago that always having a "that's not my job" attitude doesn't fly in any type of workplace.  The benefits of having a team attitude is that one needs help, it will be reciprocated. 

8.  Work in cooperation with parents.  The pastor of the church I used to attend didn't think that it was important to partner with parents in helping to make the youth ministry successful.   I never understood the pastor's line of thinking.  In my opinion, the youth ministry was not successful partially because of that.  If a boxing coach is training youths, they have to have good communication with the youths' parents and guardians and encourage them to be involved.  Parents should not be shut out of the process.