Outside at Loyola Park

For the first time in 20 years, the Loyola Park boxing show was held on the outside.  A ring was set up on a basketball court in the park.  In the photo above, Mikaela holds the pads for her brother Noel before his fight.  Noel's fight was number two on the list.

I didn't sing the National Anthem, but Xavier, who had sung it there in the past, did a great job.  Tonight was the first time I heard him sing. 

The kid Noel fought was from Loyola Park, had two prior fights, and was built a little bigger.  Mikaela correctly pointed out that the other kid kept going for a knockout.  At the end of the second round, I told Noel to watch out for the wild punches that were being thrown at him.  Noel did get in a few good head shots.  The other kid kept pinning him up against the ropes and in the corners.

Noel did not win, but as usual, I was happy that one of my fighters was able to get a match.  A few people told me that they believed Noel had great form.  They figured that if he had pressed the other guy a little more, Noel might have won.

Most of the other fights were brawls.  John used his long reach to great advantage to get a win over Connor (not the same Connor who trains at Loyola), who did a back flip in the ring before the outcome was announced.  William, the polite home schooled teen who now goes to a brick-and-mortar high school, broke off his opponent with precision.  He deserved the "Best Fighter" award he received at the end of the night.  Reif and Ben faced each other during the last -- and most excellent -- fight of the evening. Reif got the winner's trophy, but the both of them were working their game well.

Shamar, a staff member at Loyola, was the announcer for the evening, and he kept the crowd laughing.  Barry was calling out punch combination numbers during one match.  Shamar said, "I heard what is the square root of four!  The coaches are teaching math in the corners!"  It was a fun evening. 

Fall's People

Some of the new people did not show up to class on the first day of the fall session.  No surprise there.  Some of the ones who were in the class in prior sessions and had re-registered didn't come in, either.  That made me wonder why they re-registered.  Iz and Abraham came in so late that they only had 15 minutes left to do anything.  But there was still a nice crowd in the gym.

Summer, Lauren's cousin, decided that she wanted back into boxing today.  But when her aunt went upstairs to register her, she was sent back to tell me that I had to come upstairs to do the job.  "There were two girls at the front desk but no one else was there," Summer's aunt told me.  Staff should know by now that I will NOT leave class to come upstairs to do anything.  I've stated that enough times.  It had to have been a couple of kids who had NO business being behind the front desk counter, acting as if they work for the park district.  Why non-staff are constantly allowed to stand behind the counter and play on the business phone is a mystery.  After the last class was over, I registered Summer.

With the addition of Summer, the 12 years and under class is now full.  If one more person signs up for the teen class, that will be full, too.  Only Sahia and her daughter Richey are in the adult class, but I'm hoping for more adults to sign up.  I was on my feet the entire time, but I like being busy as opposed to sitting in an empty gym.  It was enjoyable showing all the new people the techniques.

Welcome Faces

Today was the first day of the fall session down at Loyola Park.  As usual, it was packed.  I counted 13 new people in addition to those who re-registered again.  Alan told me he has over 30 people in total.

I was extremely happy to see two faces I hadn't seen in a long time:  John G., who has been teaching in South Korea, and Sebastian, Gabe's younger brother.  John and his wife have an adorable baby girl named Lucy.  John had pictures of her on his cell phone.  He told me he doesn't get a chance to work out much overseas as he did before the baby came along.  Sebastian is still going to school with a while to go.  He was also sporting a head of hair (usually Sebastian kept his head shaved) and a full beard.  He told me that Gabe would be back at the gym soon.

John G. and I were doing a lot of talking, and we were helping the new people out.  Most of the women seemed to enjoy the class.  I was holding the pads for Cris; she wanted to make sure she was keeping her hands up while throwing punches.  John held the heavy bags for several of the other women.

I probably did about 20 minutes of a workout because I was stiff.  It had been a few weeks since I had been to Loyola Park.  Quickly, I figured out how rusty I was.  There was a need for me to get back up to speed since I'm welcoming a lot of new faces down at LaFollette tomorrow.

Different Approaches To Ages

Yesterday, I completed one of the last administrative tasks I had to do before the fall session begins this week.  I put the new class rosters and attendance sheets in the program binder.  I printed extra rosters to turn in at the next boxing show I attend.  All the boxing coaches are required to provide verification to the head of the boxing program that fighters they bring to the shows are actually registered for the program.

After wavering back and forth, I decided not to attend the show that's coming up at Davis Square this week.  I wanted to go because I haven't been there since I had one of my fighters participate in a sparring session there.  But I have a big number of new people starting the class this week in addition to people like Janaja and Lauren who haven't been in the gym for awhile.  I don't want to start the session by shutting down the gym, even though it would only be for one day.  I'm not going to Bessemer Park either, which is the following week, for the same reason.

You see, I have a lesson plan that I follow loosely from the second week on.  A lot of what goes in the gym depends on the participants, what they need to work on, their skill levels, etc.  However, the first week is basically set in stone: new people and those who are picking up the sport again after a period of time are taught the punches and basic head movement and footwork the first week.  Any disruption to that first week throws people off.  But having explained that, those who start skipping days from the beginning -- and unfortunately, a lot of people do -- I have to treat like teachers used to do when I was in grade and high school.  None of my teachers were going to hold up the entire class because of one or two students who missed classes for whatever reason.  People had to play catch up and learn those lessons when there was a little time in the class to do that.

I believe I've become better at working with the kids mainly because that is the age group I've had to deal with the most.  Several people came in to sign up for the boxing class this past Friday (the last-minute rush I predicted) and the teen class currently has nine people, the most that have been there for some time.  To an extent, I have to re-learn how to deal with a large group of teens; for the longest time, Ariel was the only teenager coming to the gym.  Mikala and Noel are good youths I know, but Janaja and Lauren who were there before?  Sigh....like Ariel, Janaja was only there once in a blue moon, and Lauren never gave me the impression that she was overly interested in the sport.  The thing with teens is they have more independence than those twelve years and under.  They also don't have that, "I better listen to Mama, Daddy, Grandma, etc., or else I'm going to be in big trouble," either.  They speak up (or talk back as mine and other old school parents would put it) when they don't want to do something.  They're not grown, but one has to acknowledge they're not far from adulthood and be more of a mentor.

The nice thing about working with adults in the gym is that they don't need their hands held as much as the kids and some of the teens do.  Show them what to do and they are cool.  I've never had to raise my voice because an adult was acting out in the gym; those type of situations, unlike with the younger kids, never come up.  Also, they don't need me to stand over them constantly.  They ask a lot of questions and really listen and incorporate what they learn.

I'm going to observe closely how Saturdays are working this fall session because frankly, they haven't been for the past two and a half years.  People traditionally do not show up to the gym on that day, and most are surprised to find the gym is not open on Monday.  It would be better to have the gym open Monday thru Friday not only because Saturday doesn't appear to be a good fit on any one's schedule, but I would also be out of Coach James' way.  His football and baseball games take place on the weekends and his sports equipment is stored in rooms off of the boxing gym (which is closer access to the football and baseball fields). His teams could come through the gym without disturbing my class nor hear me snap on them for messing with the heavy and speed bags. If Saturdays continue to be quiet like they have been, I'm going to push again to have the gym closed on that day and open on Monday instead.  Steve, my supervisor, wants the gym open on Saturday, but I have the evidence -- attendance records -- to hopefully change his mind before the winter session arrives.

Pugilism At Portage Park

A boy named Sean who fought out of Brooks Park was crying during his fight with another boy at the Portage Park boxing show.  Sean was knocked down at one point; Shifty, the referee, asked if he wanted to continue.  For a second, I thought Sean was going to give up, but he soldiered on.  Sean did not get the win.  It bothers me when kids are crying during matches and afterward.  I always feel sorry for them.  I gave Sean encouragement when I spotted him later on.

Sean's sister, Shannon, was handling her business against Jade in a later fight.  No winner there because it was deemed an exhibition match.  But Shannon was quite aggressive.  I think she would have won if it was a regular bout.

Iz, who previously had said he wanted to go to Portage Park, did not show up.  I don't want to shut down the gym to attend next week's show at Davis Square.  I would like to go to Coach Eddie's gym as I haven't been there for awhile.  But it'll be the first week of the fall session, and I don't want the new people to miss a day out of class.  I might have to, however, if Iz and his brother Abraham really, really, want to get fights there.

Pete was the referee for the last few bouts.  I hadn't realized that Pete had retired. Shifty told me he came out of retirement briefly to work the Portage Park show.

Next week is going to be busy, so I'm going to enjoy the slow pace at LaFollette for the next couple of days.

Thin Line Between Self-Defense and Assault

The numbers have increased in the three boxing classes I run.  Iz and Abraham re-signed up for the kids class last week, the teen class is half-full, and the adult class has two people registered with the promise of a third person signing up.

If I remember correctly, Janaja, who re-registered for fall after having been out of the teen class for several sessions, told me during the last time she was in the class that she wanted to know how to defend herself.  Despite the signs everywhere in the gym stating that boxing is a sport and that I do not teach self-defense, I know I'm going to have to remind people that it is not a self-defense class.  Self-defense is only designed for people to stun and distract assailants so they can run off to safety.  It is not intended for people to give out punishing and continuous beat downs.  People have spent time in jail and some are currently doing time because some lawyers were able to convince some judges to rule that self-defense was assault and battery.  I can't control how people use the skills that I teach them when they aren't in the gym.  But I have to warn people that if they get into an altercation and it's known that they know how to box (or know martial arts or general self-defense moves, for that matter) that it is very easy to be found on the wrong side of the law.

Too many young people today believe they can't be held responsible for their actions because they are under the age of eighteen.  Some parents of today neglect to tell their kids that there are consequences for everything.  I'm still wondering why in light of the fact that the majority of grade and high schools have zero tolerance for violence policies, that some parents think a boxing class is an answer to their kids' being bullied.

One of the positive aspects of learning a combat sport like boxing is that it makes people less likely to escalate conflicts.  When I was younger, I was quick to put my hands on people who popped off at the mouth to me.  Since I learned how to box (and took martial arts in the past), it has become clear that I don't have to RSVP to every argument to which I'm invited.  I have encouraged those in the class not to go around bragging about, "I got them hands," because there are people who like to start stuff for amusement.  People will provoke someone just to see if they have the skills they claim to have.  Often, it's a setup, and people will cry victim after receiving a beat down in order to get someone else in trouble.

As for the adults looking for self-defense moves in the boxing class, I have to point out that they have a whole lot more to lose because of an altercation.  A kid under 18 years of age could possibly get their police record expunged, but an adult is going to have to deal with having thrown a damaging punch for the rest of their days if a judge decides they could have handled a situation in a different way.  Jail time and probation may be avoided, but being sued in civil court for damages may not.  Adults should know the difference between what situations should be escalated and which ones should not.

I'm going to try and enjoy peace and quiet at work this last week of break before the fall class begins.  The administrative tasks I had to do are done, save for the attendance sheets and class rosters that I need to print out near the end of the week.  The equipment has been checked and cleaned, and my office/equipment room has been straightened up.  As there are still boxing shows going on -- Portage Park's show is this week -- I'm hoping that some of the kids will participate.

Evening At Eckhart

There were only six bouts at Eckhart Park's boxing show.  I got a hint that the evening was going to be odd when I arrived at that field house and learned I was the first one who showed up for the show.  Slowly, others trickled in.  But there still weren't enough fighters to fill out the card.  Half of the fights were exhibition matches done by fighters from Ogden Park.

John, who fights out of Loyola, got a fight with a guy, JB, from Portage Park.  It appeared that John won all three rounds, but the results said the other guy won. JB looked surprised as his hand was raised in victory.

Another surprise was there is still no coach at Eckhart.  I was under the impression that one had been hired several weeks ago, but apparently not.  Alan suggested that I put in again for a transfer to over there.

None of my fighters were in attendance.  Iz told me before the break he was planning to go to Portage Park's show which is next week.  We'll see.

When I returned home, I saw a message left on this blog from Mikala and Noel's mom -- she had been trying to reach me at the field house for six weeks.  She had been leaving messages, but I received none of them.  In the past, I have experienced problems with getting incomplete messages or not receiving messages at all.  I let it go because I didn't want to create conflict, but I can't do it this time. I don't know which staff member was responsible for not delivering (and apparently not taking) messages, and the situation was unprofessional and unacceptable.   I sent an email to my supervisor letting him know what happened.  I will call Mikala and Noel's mom in the morning; she should have never gotten the run-around like that.

Hanging Out At Harrison Park

Even though I brought gear with me to Harrison Park last night, I did not expect Abrahant (or Abraham, as I refer to the boy) to show up.  Iz is out of town for the next two weeks, and Abraham never made a solid commitment to go to Harrison Park's boxing show.  I know I gave Iz and Abraham's parents a boxing show schedule long before the summer session ended.  Since I'll be riding public transportation to Eckhart Park's show next week just like I did to travel to Harrison Park last night, I won't trouble myself by bringing any gear along.  It's doubtful that Abraham will show up there, either.

I had no participants, and Thomas had enough people to judge the bouts, so I just hung around to watch the fights.  There were some good ones, including one between two pre-teen girls.  I think the girl who won was out of Ogden Park.  I congratulated her afterward because she was handling her business well in the ring.

A check of the people who signed up for LaFollette Park's fall boxing class revealed that my favorite pigeon-toed, video-game obsessed kid, James, has registered again.  I hope that means that his grades are back in order.  James' poor grades have kept him out of the gym for a session and a half.

Marty, the coach at Simons Park, pointed out a truth:  the ones who aren't serious and motivated enough to follow through with boxing eliminate themselves out of the class.  I've only had to ban a handful of individuals from the class for behavioral and discipline problems.  The others who willfully refuse to keep up do me a favor by either dropping out before the session ends or not registering for the next session.

The idea was brought up that perhaps my week at work could be split up by having the kids new to the class show up three days a week and having the more advanced kids show up two days a week.  It's a nice idea on the surface that would help me direct my focus on which participants need what.  But as long as scatter shot attendance continues among the youths, the idea is not feasible.  The boxing program at LaFollete Park has to be much stronger than it is currently to handle that type of schedule.

Participation Vs. Numbers

My boss told me yesterday that I should have at least five people signed up in the youth boxing classes.  "There's no way that a free class shouldn't be full," he said.  That is true, but it doesn't work like that.  I can't force people to sign up regardless if they do not have to pay money. Boxing is a hard sell to kids who are more interested in MMA and professional wrestling.  The sport takes patience and being focused to learn, but the attention spans of most kids today have been damaged by their exposure to video games and inappropriate video clips on YouTube and WorldStar.

Some parents are okay with their kids being knocked around during football and basketball games, but draw the line at them taking punches.  Too many parents either because of willful inattention or just plain laziness don't keep up with registration schedules.  I don't often have a full class until late in the session and one of the main excuses I hear from parents who sign up their kids late is, "Oh, I forgot."  A lot of parents don't bother to keep up with the class schedule, either. For example, I still get people showing on Tuesday asking me, "Where were you yesterday?"  I've been working there for three years, and the gym has never been open on Mondays.

Boxing is not that appealing to the adults around that area, either.  Adults have told me they just want to hit the bags, but they only seem to want to do it when the mood hits them.  They don't want to pay for it, either, despite being shown that private gyms charge steep fees and those fees don't usually include receiving training.

Frankly, I could care less about numbers.  Participation is more important to me.  Showing a full roster on paper means nothing when sparring sessions can't take place because only one kid showed up to the class that day.  Having every slot full doesn't amount to much when I've been sitting in an empty gym most of the week.  I refuse to buy into the idea that it more acceptable for people to sign up than it is for people to show up and be present.  Unfortunately, I have learned that some with the Chicago Park District do not have an interest in doing a day's work for a day's pay.  They brag about having "easy jobs" and making "easy money".  It doesn't matter to them that a class or activity performing poorly because the less they have to do, the better.   They only do enough to avoid being written up or fired. But I wasn't raised to have a poor work ethic.

Last Week Of A Thankless Session

Being a boxing coach can be a very thankless job.  I am so glad that this is the last week of the summer session.  On top of this being a crappy season for me personally, it also has not been a good one at the gym.

I'm still trying to figure out how people can sign up for a class in the middle of the session and then decide they're not going to attend half of the time.  That's exactly what happened this session.  It happens during most of the year, but it's way more glaring in the summer when I'm trying to gather a decent number of people to participate in the boxing shows.  Youths disappear without them (or their parents/guardians for that matter) giving me a heads-up as to why.

Last week, I was getting into my car to go home when I spotted Ariel hanging out in the park with several of her friends.  She could have and should have been in the gym that day.  She's only been there four times during this 10-week period.  I'm fresh out of ideas as to what to do in that situation.  Julius, a personal trainer at the field house, and I had given her a long talk some time ago about prioritizing things and practicing good time management.  I now have to assume we weren't being heard.  Ariel has been in the program a little over a year and her class attendance has become worse during each session.

Maurice's mom signed him up for the fall session. But they don't live in the immediate area, and his mom is a seasonal employee at the field house.  I like Maurice, but I have the sinking feeling that he won't finish out the fall session if he actually attends it at all.  Maurice hasn't been showing up much for the current session and he never made it to any of the boxing shows.  On top of that, his brother never showed up for the teen class.  He told his mom he didn't want to be in the class after she signed him up, probably without asking him if he was interested.

At least the gym didn't suffer as much of the wear and tear from the summer camp kids and counselors this time around.  I'd like to think the ongoing mutual dislike between the camp coordinator and I had something to do with that.  Now that she (and our supervisor) knows without question that I don't appreciate the summer camp kids being in my gym,  I haven't had to walk into much disarray down there.  I'm guessing no one wanted to hear my complaints.

I gave up a while ago on keeping the gym open during the breaks in-between sessions.  Sitting in an empty gym twiddling my thumbs because most don't bother to come to class during the regular session is already NOT a good use of my precious time.  I'm not going to do the same in-between sessions.  My time would be put to better use entering the attendance records, cleaning the equipment, sweeping up the equipment room, making fliers, and other tasks that I can't easily get done during the regular sessions.

Unfortunately, I'm not expecting better from the fall session, despite the adult class having been added back onto the schedule.  Two things keep coming to my mind.  Maybe if the youths were also being charged a fee for the class like the adults are,  the boxing coaches wouldn't have to deal with so many youths who have no interest, motivation, or focus.  The second thing is, I have yet to see the community's alleged interest in wanting the boxing program to be re-established at LaFollette.  As far as I'm concerned, there's not much interest at all.

Stood Up At Seward

It rained hard at various times today.  But luckily, the ring was able to be moved into the basketball gym at Seward Park, so the boxing show went on.  Just as I expected, neither Iz, his brother Abraham, nor David showed up.  I shouldn't take it personally when the kids stand me up at these shows because they lose out on opportunities, not me.  But I get irritated anyway.  I always see kids with whom they could have been matched up.

Hamlin Park had the most number of fighters there.  Alan showed me a text from Barry saying that all of Barry's fighters couldn't make the show.  Alan also received a text from Ben who couldn't make it because he couldn't get out of work early enough.  Boxers from Taylor, Portage, and Fuller rounded out the rest of the participants.

I spent the entire show judging the matches, and most of them very close.  The Taylor Park fighters were particularly rough in their dealings with opponents.

Mike G. was judging, too, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him.  His show is next week at Sheridan Park.  I'll try again to get some of my fighters to actually attend.  However, this summer hasn't particularly been a good one, and I'm not expecting any better this season.

Back To The Shows

Seward Park's show is this week.  I'm bracing myself for the youths and parents who believe they should be chauffeured to every boxing show.  No matter how much I tell people they have to get there on their own, there is always someone expecting taxi service.   Some parents act very excited to have their kids learn to box but forget there are competitions for the kids to participate in.  There is always a lack of understanding regarding schedules.

Iz and Abraham told me they may not be able to attend.  Anthony already told me he doesn't want to compete (although his dad may have other ideas). Jamire has never wanted to be there from the beginning.  So that leaves the other kids, but their attendance has become very iffy over the past few weeks.  For example, Jayda has not been in the gym for two weeks straight with no explanation.  I called myself not going to the shows for a few weeks to give the youths who signed up in the middle of the session a chance to catch up on the training.  However, that might not have been enough time, especially for those youths without focus, motivation, etc.

Regardless, I have to attend a certain number of shows each summer.  If the youths show up but don't get a fight, I still have to help out at the show because that is part of my job.  If the youths tell me they will attend, but don't show up, I still have to work.  If none of them want to go, I will still shut down the gym for that night to go help out at a show.  One of the reason is that it is a chance to get out of the field house once in awhile, especially since I've become very intolerant of stuff being pulled by staff and customers alike.  I need the break.

 

Sparring Tales

During today's sparring session, Jamire sparred twice -- once with Rosemary, and once with Abraham.  Jamire was plodding around and dropping his hands, but then Rosemary kept turning her back and pawing at him (and she did the same when she sparred later with her brother Giovanny).  Abraham had sparred with Giovanny the first time around, so he went in again with Jamire.

Abraham kept dashing in on Jamire who kept backing up into the corners and ropes despite my repeating constantly not to do that.  Halfway into the second round, Jamire was on the ropes again whining about "I can't breathe!"  He spit his mouthpiece out and started crying.  I stopped the round and took his headgear off.  Jamire is always looking to be babied and coddled, and I am never in the mood to do that.  "Jamire, you are too young to be tired like this so fast.  You need to build your stamina up," I told him.  Iz also pointed out that Jamire's stamina needs shoring up.  I doubt that my words were listened to because for the rest of the session, Jamire walked around just as he did when he first arrived -- like some tired old man.

I had to put Giovanny in check for hitting his sister too hard.  I should have known there was something suspicious about his eagerness to get into the ring with her.  But I had to drop some knowledge on Rosemary as well.  "Keep in mind that whatever girl you may have a real fight with is not going to take it easy on you so don't expect these boys to take it easy," I informed her.

Too many of the kids wanted to spar with Anthony.  Anthony wasn't feeling up to it, so he didn't spar.  I suspect the kids wanted to spar with him because Anthony is currently the smallest kid in the gym.  Just because someone is small doesn't mean it is going to be easy to take them on.

David and Iz sparred, and I've noticed that David has some bad habits.  David rushes in to throw punches, and he keeps his head down too much.  Iz just waits on David to make those mistakes so he can take advantage of them.

No sign of Maurice.  His mother wasn't at work, and when she's not there, her son doesn't show up to the gym.

Ariel came in to work out, and she promised to come in tomorrow when Noel and his sister are scheduled to come in.  I hope she does because Ariel seriously needs the sparring time.  In fact, everyone needs to step their game up, because Seward Park's boxing show is next week.

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.

Fine Tuning

Jamire didn't show up in the gym yesterday, and I was a little concerned.  The day before he told Maurice's mom that he liked boxing, but I don't believe that's totally true.  The other kids are looking forward to participating in the boxing shows, but Jamire has already been waffling about whether or not he wants to fight.  It reminds me of Ben, who used to be in the program over a year ago.  Ben never wanted to spar unless he could "win", and Ben always had an excuse about not wanting to go to a boxing show.  I wish Jamire would at least try, but then, I don't have high hopes that will happen.

Abraham and his brother Iz sparred again (Maurice will get to spar with them next week).  Abraham tripped over his brother's foot and fell.  The next thing I knew, Abraham was sobbing, and accusing Iz of tripping him on purpose.  Iz doesn't operate out of any malice.  He apologized to his brother, but after they finished sparring, Abraham was crying again to their father.

A guy named David came in, inquiring about signing up his son, who is also named David, up for boxing.  The guy and I had talked about a year ago about his son coming in, but no registration took place.  The 12-years-and-under class is not full even this late into the session, so I told him I'd be glad to welcome his son into the gym.  One advantage the boy has is that his dad has been training him so he could start sparring once he joins the class.  I make kids who are totally new to the sport wait a week to learn the punches and basic footwork before they are allowed to spar.

I was surprised when brother and sister duo Noel and Mikaela (I've been spelling her name wrong before) came in for the teen class.  Those two know what to do.  They don't need me to go over basics with them again.  Just fine tuning.  Both of them have good form.  I complimented Mikaela on how she always stays on the balls of her feet.  Actually, that is how she walks normally.

Mikaela had a hard fight at Garfield Park the night before.  "That girl you fought was a bull," I told her.  Mikaela had been overwhelmed by the constant barrage of punches the other girl had thrown.  "With someone like that," I explained, "going for their head is not a good strategy.  They're so used to rushing in like that so head shots don't faze them because they've taken so many of them.  Body shots have to be done to slow them down."  I had her and her brother work on uppercuts and hooks to the body.

I wished Ariel had come in because she might have been able to get some sparring in with Mikaela.  Unfortunately, Ariel is absent most of the time.  If I see Ariel once during a week that's doing good. Ariel is heavier than Mikaela, and she still needs to learn how to pull her punches during sparring.  But it could work out with me carefully monitoring the action so that no one gets seriously hurt.

Mikaela's mom asked why most male boxing coaches have the female boxers always concentrating on giving out shots to the head.  I think it's because they are concerned about the females taking punches to their chests.  When I sparred more regularly, I seldom wore a chest protector.  Yes, those shots to the chest do sting. But I tell all of the fighters I coach to deliver punches to all of the torso regardless of what gender they are and who they are sparring with.  It is better to mix punches up and practice combinations.  Too many kids talk about getting knockouts instead of utilizing other ways to stop an opponent and gain points.

Judging Battles at Garfield Park

Garfield Park's boxing show took place yesterday, and thankfully, the weather cooperated despite reports of rain.  Every time I walk into that place I'm reminded of when my late mother and I went there back in the mid-1960's so I could get my shots before starting school.  We used to live a few blocks away from the field house back in the day.

George spotted me walking on a cane.  "Stop faking with that cane!" he said, grinning.  The man gave me some good advice about stopping my knee pain, including losing weight, which I've long needed to do.  While I knew that George had been working for the park district since 1972, I didn't know he had been involved in boxing since 1964.  That's a long time.

Iz and Abraham weren't able to get fights because there was no one available to match them up with.  We might go to Taylor Park in a couple of weeks, but Iz is going to be out of town then.  Most likely, we won't attend another fight until the one at Seward Park in about three weeks.  I need to give time to Maurice and Jamire to catch up so they're ready for matches.  But between the two of them, Maurice appears to be more interested in actually fighting.  I plan to allow Maurice to start sparring in the gym next week.

Before the show began there was a touching tribute to Ed Brown, known as 'Lil Ed, who fought out of Garfield.  Brown was shot and killed several months ago not long before he was going to have a fight on Showtime.  He had 300 amateur fights and was undefeated.  Brown was also undefeated as a professional boxer.  His father and step-mother were present at the show and his step-mom read a letter from a person to whom Brown' kidneys were donated to after his death.

I spent the evening helping with judging the matches, and there were some good ones.  A girl from Taylor Park, I believe, really took it to Mikkela, who fights out of Portage Park.  I saw the Taylor Park fighter in the washroom afterward and gave her a big compliment.  Solomon and Matt, both fighting out of Loyola, did their best but did not get wins.  The younger kids (fighting out of Garfield, Taylor, Fuller, Simons, Ogden, and Portage) went wild on each other all evening.  One boy got knocked to the canvas, and the match was stopped soon after.  An eight-year-old girl agreed to fight one of the boys, but he got the best of her.  She took a hard pop to her nose and that fight was stopped.

Summer seems to be flying by.  We're almost in the middle of July, and there's still a lot of work to do.

Rainout

I knew something was wrong when I drove up to the field house and there was no sign of a boxing ring being set up outside.  When I came inside, my boss told me, "The boxing show has been canceled."  The reason was that of an impending rainstorm.  I began to feel a headache coming on.

Barry called; he was as disappointed as I was that the LaFollette boxing show would not be happening.  In addition to kids from his youth class, he was going to help with the guys from Alan's class who wanted to fight as Alan wasn't able to come to the show.

Of course, Thomas' (the head of the park district boxing program) announcement that the fight wasn't going to happen didn't reach everybody.  His announcements never do.  Everyone is not a fan of checking emails.  I was on my way to work when the email was sent.  People from Portage Park showed up, and so did Marty from Simons Park.  I sent the kids of my gym -- Jamire, Iz, Abraham, and Ariel -- home since class had not been scheduled to take place today.

About the only good thing that happened was that I signed up a couple of teens for the class, Noel and Mikkala.  I also some other people including Miguel, who has been helping Johnny out over at Humboldt Park.

It would have been my third show since I've been a paid coach; now I have to wait until next year.  Park district boxing shows are not re-scheduled if they are canceled.

One Out Of Four

Iz appears to be the only one who is going to compete in tomorrow's boxing show at LaFollette Park.  Abraham hurt his foot yesterday, Jamire doesn't want a match, and David continues to be MIA.

Two new kids, Maurice and Uriah, were signed up today by their mom.  They won't be in class until after the Fourth of July.  Their mother is also interested in taking the class, but she'll have to wait until September.  That's when the adult boxing class will (hopefully) be back on the schedule.

I finally had to get on Jamire today about being lazy and talking too much.  His grandmother backed me up when I told him about the importance of doing all of the workout and being focused.  I didn't yell or scream, but I was firm.  He sparred with Iz who took it easy on him today.

The bulletin board closest to the gym entrance had been tampered with.  I know it was the summer camp kids.  I didn't bother bringing it up to Tina, the camp coordinator since things are still frosty between the two of us.  It's not that she nor the camp counselors would have done much to stop it, just like they haven't been doing for the past couple of summers I've been working there.  I just reinforced the damaged areas with tape and hoped that I don't find the board jacked up again.

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.

A Straight Right Changes The Mind

Still no sign of David, but Jamire, Iz, and Abraham came to class today.  I was extremely happy to see Iz and Abraham because I was afraid that I would be stuck for the whole hour and a half alone with Jamire.  Don't get me wrong -- Jamire is a nice enough kid.  But the whining about "I'm tired" and constantly making conversation and asking incessant questions to avoid doing training has gotten on my last nerve.  Jamire was also going on about being sleepy and his stomach allegedly hurting, too.

When sparring began, I put Iz and Jamire in first.  Jamire was using both of his fists, crossing his feet, turning his back, and allowing Iz to pummel him every time he was backed into a corner.  It wasn't much better when I put Abraham in.  Abraham caught Jamire with a straight right to the chin.  Jamire crashed to the canvas.

For a second, I thought that Jamire had been knocked out.  His mouthpiece was laying to one side on the canvas.  Jamire wasn't moving.  Abraham and Iz also rushed over to see if he was okay.  Jamire shook his head "no", so I removed his headgear and made him sit up.  Abraham gave him some water.  "Do you want to keep going?" he asked Jamire.  Jamire shook his head again.  I let Iz and Abraham spar for an extra round and told Jamire no more sparring for him today. Iz and Abraham both gave Jamire advice on how to do better the next time.

 At the end of class, Jamire's grandmother arrived to pick him up and I told her what happened.  She smiled, "He just has to get used to it."  Jamire has changed his mind about participating in next week's boxing show, so that leaves me with just three contenders instead of four (that's if David ever shows up).  "I think I need some more experience," Jamire told me and his grandmother.