Hand Throwing At Hamlin

Malik, Mikaela, and Noel came to the Hamlin Park boxing show.  Only Malik and Mikaela got fights.  Malik fought a lanky, slightly bigger kid out of Hamlin.  Mikaela's opponent was a girl from Humboldt Park, who like Mikaela, only had one prior fight.  Their fights were number four and five on the show schedule.  Alan helped me in the corner with both of them.

Malik hesitated a lot.  I had to keep telling him not to wait on the other fighter and be first with his left jab.  I liked that Malik kept moving a lot, but we've got to work on him throwing more combinations.  Malik fell down once and so did the other guy; both falls were ruled as slips.  Malik didn't win, but some in the audience thought he should have.

The girl Mikaela fought kept smothering her against the ropes and in the corners.  She was shorter than Mikaela, and she was holding her a lot.  I have to work more with Mikaela on slowing down fighters who like to rush in a lot as the other girl was doing.  Mikaela did her best, but she didn't win.

Mike, Rojan, Solomon, and Erik from Loyola Park had fights.  Erik was the only person from there who won his.  William was there too, but he wasn't able to get a fight.  Hamlin Park's fighters racked up most of the wins for the evening.

David Diaz was there; it was one of his boys who fought Malik.  "You're still hanging in there!" he smiled at me.  Fres Oquendo gave me a hug when he saw me.  I hadn't seen him for awhile.  The announcer at the show mentioned that Fres was cheered during his last fight in Russia.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening.  Phil was at the show.  He suggested that I get a buffer to help ease the discomfort with my left knee.  I will certainly look into that before I have to go see the doctor about it in November.  

A Sticky Sparring Situation

Yesterday was a sparring day.  Four boys in the 12-years and under class were suited up and ready to go.  All were paired up evenly until Tony's parent pulled me aside and quietly announced that she didn't want her son sparring with Iz.

Iz and Tony were best matched up for each other.  I had put James with Abraham.  The intent was to have each pair do two rounds.  Some quick thinking had to be done. Iz really wanted to take on Tony.  He kept asking me why he couldn't spar with him.  Fortunately, Tony had taken off his gear after doing a couple of rounds with Abraham.  I told Iz that since Tony had done that, and there wasn't a whole lot of time left in the class, that was all the sparring Tony was going to do that day.  Unfortunately, James ended up having to spar multiple times with Iz and Abraham.  Abraham will not spar with his brother Iz because that is not an even match, and he's right.  James and Iz are not an even match, either.

Later, Tony's mom explained that she was concerned that Iz was so eager to spar with her son.  "I don't want my son in the ring with someone who hasn't been coming here regularly," she said.  Iz and Abraham hadn't been in the gym for two weeks.  Iz told me, "I wasn't feeling well," but that didn't explain his brother's absence.  The brothers had missed a few opportunities to participate in boxing shows, and that concerned me.

I could understand Tony's mom wanting to protect her son.  Boxing gyms are full of both youths and adults who always want to throw hands at others, but don't want to train properly.  But Iz and Abraham don't give me the impression they fall into that category.  Normally, they are good about showing up to the gym consistently and getting the work in.  I was in a bad spot because I did not want to let on about how Tony's mom felt to Iz, Abraham, nor their dad who was also on the premises.  

Tony's mom wants her son to get more training in and build up strength and stamina as opposed to sparring weekly and competing.  That is perfectly fine.  But when she talked about perhaps allowing Tony to compete after the beginning of next year, I thought, "I hope she read the boxing show schedule."  There are no park district boxing competitions during the first half of the year, other than the City-Wide Tournament.  Tony will not go to Hamlin Park's boxing show, which is today.  Humboldt Park is usually the last show I plan for my fighters to attend, as the shows at Carver, Brooks, and Scottsdale have proven to be too far for most of them to go.  If Tony doesn't fight at Humboldt, he'll have to wait until next June when the park district shows start up again.

Yesterday's situation made me wonder: what if a parent doesn't want their kid to get in the ring with other kid with whom they've been matched up with at a boxing show?  Turning down a sparring session may be allowed, but turning down a fight is another matter.  I'm in charge, but parents do have a say-so in some matters because it's a city-run gym.  But they can't make demands during a competition; believe me, it's been tried before.  Their kid just will have to forfeit a fight.  If they kept forfeiting fights because a parent or guardian wants to pick and choose opponents, the kid won't fight anywhere.

Diappearing Acts and Usual Issues

Halloween is still a way off, but attendance in the gym is down.  When November rolls in, I expect most people to pull disappearing acts because the holidays become uppermost in their minds.  I appreciate those like Mikaela, Noel, Shay, and their mom, who give me a heads up in advance when they will not be in the gym.  But most don't give me any warning.

I see Brandon and his mom walking around the field house often.  They're pleasant when greeting me.  But Brandon has only been in boxing class once since his mom registered him.  Anwar has been missing a lot of days for someone who hasn't been long in the class.  Another boy, David, whom I pulled from the wait list, acted as if he was so eager when I told him he could be in the class.  David hasn't been there yet.  Eric is another one whose face I don't know because I haven't seen him.

Gael surprised me this past Friday by showing up, but his sister Jennifer wasn't with him.  Their mother gave me no explanation for the girl's absence.  I allowed Gael to spar with James.  They only did a couple of rounds because James didn't want to do a third one.  "Are we going to spar again today?" Gael asked.  There were no other kids in the 12-years-and-under class other than those two, as none of the other kids came in.  Gael asked about the next sparring day, not bothering to read the bulletin board as usual.  I informed him and his mother -- again -- that sparring takes place only on Wednesday and Friday.

I had to stop myself from making a sarcastic crack when Gael had the nerve to me ask about getting a match at the Hamlin Park show which is coming up this week.  That Friday was the first time the boy had ever sparred.  Apparently, Gael thought that qualified him for a fight.  "Gael, you're not ready for that," I told him in front of his mom. Jennifer and Gael hardly show up to the gym the three days their mom told me they could attend.  None of the three days they can attend include the sparring days.  Based on the days already missed and what I see in terms of training habits, Gael is never going to be ready for a match.

There have been a lot of inquiries from parents and kids alike about the boxing class lately.  I get the impression that most who've heard about the class don't investigate the basics, like when the class actually began and the days and times it meets.  People display a lot of disappointed looks when they realize the youth classes are full and that they have to wait for the January class.  I become disappointed too because I know most will forget to sign up in December, despite me having given them that information.  Even if they register early, most likely I won't find out they can't attend all five days during the week until after they're already in the class.  The others will show up in February expecting to get into classes that are already full.  

Simons Park Show

No fighters from LaFollette Park showed up at Simons Park's boxing show.  Considering the unfortunate shooting incident that happened at LaFollette the night before, I couldn't blame any of my boxers for wanting to stay close to their homes.  But there were ten fights on the card, most of which were action-packed.  I served as a judge again.  There were times I wanted to yell out instructions to those boxing, but I couldn't.  The crowd was animated, especially during the last fight which featured two adult heavyweights.

The regulars were in attendance including Shifty the referee, Jose and Marlon from Portage Park, Killer Keith, Jeff and Jesse from Taylor Park, Ernest from Fuller Park, Eddie from Davis Square Park, Barry from Loyola Park, Thomas the head of the park district boxing program, Rodney from Trumbull Park, and Fermin from Harrison Park.  I finally met Ben who is the coach at Scottsdale Park.

Solomon, who fights out of Loyola Park, had somewhat of a tough opponent and didn't win his match.  I thought Solomon was waiting a little too long to get some of his punches out there.  A couple of boys, one out of Taylor Park, had a slug fest.  The boy from Taylor Park won.  Jordan, who fights out of Portage Park, was crying after a match he lost and that bothered me.  Y'all know I don't like to see kids upset after a match.  The lone female match was between Whitney from Taylor Park and Alma from Simons Park.  I'm thinking that Whitney was the girl who fought Mikaela at Garfield Park several weeks ago.  Whitney came out like a bull on Alma; she won. 

The Simons Park show thankfully had food (hot dogs, chips and soda).  I was rather hungry.  The only other boxing show I can think of where food is always present is Loyola Park (pizza).  Sadly, I haven't provided food at the LaFollette Park boxing show yet.  Hopefully, I will rectify that next summer. 

Guns At The Field House

Noel asked if I wanted a snow cone.  He and his sister Mikaela have been buying me snow cones from a woman who runs a little concession stand in the park.  "Sure! Get me the orange flavor," I smiled.  Their class was over, and their mother and older sister were beginning the adult class.

About ten to fifteen minutes later, Mikaela and Noel came running into the gym, holding the snow cones.  "There was shooting outside, and Noel almost got hit!" Mikaela said.  Their mother and I froze.  "They shooting outside again?" I asked.  "The bullet hit the ground near my foot, and the woman selling the snow cones saw it coming and pushed me out of the way.  I was going to give her five dollars, but she wouldn't take it.  She told us to get to safety and worry about giving her the money another time," Noel explained.  The bullets did hit someone else; an ambulance showed up.  I also learned that the football players had vacated the field when the shots rang out.  The siblings and their mom rushed upstairs to let whoever may have been at the front desk know what was going on.  I went to secure a crash door that leads to the parking lot and Shay, the siblings oldest sister followed me.

As soon as we got to that door, a couple of cops coming in told us we had to evacuate the premises.  More police cars showed up.  The cops said the shooter had run inside the field house.  A search was done for nearly an hour, but the person was not found.  A police helicopter flew back and forth.

Finally, the all-clear was sounded and the staff was allowed back into the building.  On the drive home, I kept thinking about how horrible I would have felt if Noel and/or Mikaela would have been hurt.  Every few days at the field house I keep hearing about shootings that took place three blocks away, two blocks away, one block away. . .I'm tired of that.  Why is it that the go-to solution for a conflict these days is always a gun?

Reading and Winners

Gael and Jennifer showed up late to the 12-years-and-younger class yesterday.  They're not the only ones who come in late from time to time or on a regular basis like Iz and Abraham always do.  But I don't grumble much if those who come in late come in and make the most of the time they have left that day.  However, Gael and Jennifer do not read the bulletin board to see what the next step they have to take in terms of training.  When those two aren't standing around looking confused and/or bored, Gael and Jennifer ask their mother what to do next.  She'll look at the board and tell them to skip over whatever the next step is on the list if her kids act as if they don't want to do it.  Seriously?  Then I have to correct the kids, as well as tell them ten times what to do, which brings more confused looks from Gael and Jennifer and from their mom.  I don't have to do that with any of the other youths in the kids or teens' classes. 

Malik was very happy to see Mikaela and Noel in the teen class yesterday.  Anwar, a 15-year-old, signed up for that class yesterday so Malik has yet another person to work with.  I was glad, seeing how it appears the twins Jana and Jada have disappeared. Lauren has also gone AWOL, too, just like she did a year ago when she was in the class.  I withdrew Jahnaja from the class via letter, but I have yet to hear any explanation from her mother regarding her daughter's lack of attendance.  But then, her mother didn't say anything when I pulled Jahnaja from the class for doing the same thing last year. 

Some coaches say they only want winners in their gyms and on their fields.  Most coaches understand that everyone is not going to win and they're not going to demand that.  What they really want are people who are going to be present and aware, honor their commitments, and do the work.  That's all I'm asking.  But when participants can't even do that. . .if they don't weed themselves out, then the coach has to do it. 

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.