{"id":5062019,"date":"2024-07-08T14:36:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T14:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walatinonews.com\/?p=5062019"},"modified":"2024-07-08T14:36:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T14:36:38","slug":"sea-mar-youth-boxing-club-serves-south-park-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/waln\/2024\/07\/08\/sea-mar-youth-boxing-club-serves-south-park-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club Serves South Park Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Youth sports such as soccer and basketball are an often-adored part of childhood. Kids make friends, play games, and learn how to team-build. For the Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club, boxing is the sport that teaches kids the life lessons they need to succeed not only in sports but also in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juan Garcia is the Sea Mar director of Youth Boxing. The club, located in the South Park area of Seattle, is for kids ages 10 to 17. Sometimes, kids younger than 10 participate on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably 90, 95% of our kids are Latino,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cAnd not just Mexican. We have some Hondurans and some kids from Guatemala and some kids from El Salvador.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea Mar Community Health Centers is the overarching organization that provides funding, a space to meet, access to physicians for sports physicals, and other resources necessary for operating a boxing club. The club has been around for 25 years and reopened in March following a brief closure when the organization moved locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The co-ed club, which meets year-round on weekday evenings in two-hour sessions, provides kids an opportunity to train and learn how to box at no cost. Youth may join the club at any time, and the club annually hosts two main shows featuring boxing bouts –one in May for Cinco de Mayo and another in September for Mexican Independence Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garcia has been involved with the club for over two decades and has seen how boxing can be a strong outlet for youth to improve their physical and social abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the release of being able to physically do something with somebody else,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI really do believe in hitting the heavy bag and releasing some frustration you had. The next step from there is building that self-confidence that kids get by doing something they thought they couldn\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A boxing glove designed with the flag of Mexico sits on a glove shelf inside of the Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club\u2019s gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024. Members gradually work their way up to fighting with gloves on, and competitive boxing is not required to participate. (Photo by Evan Morud)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A member of Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club punches a heavy bag inside of the club\u2019s gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024. The gym has a room filled with heavy bags as well as a boxing ring and outdoor space.
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A member of the Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club shadow boxes during a set of warm-up exercises outside of their gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024. Along with boxing drills, building core strength and agility are key aspects of finding success within the ring. (Photo by Evan Morud)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A member of Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club trains inside of the club\u2019s gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024.
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The club\u2019s focus is not just boxing, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If students aren\u2019t passing their classes and putting effort into their work, they can\u2019t train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talk on Mondays about school,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe try to motivate the kids and help them keep focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey may be the best kid in our gym but we\u2019re going to say to come back when their grades are up,\u201d said Keith Weir, a coach with Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club. \u201cThey have to be responsible and manage their time and everything that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a youth member needs additional academic support, the coaches can refer them to Sea Mar support services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside academic commitment, the club aims to teach its members how commitment can lead to success in any aspect of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club Head Coach Oscar Islas trains with members of the club outside of their gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024. Islas has been involved with the club since 2010 after joining as a 17-year-old.
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A member of Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club delivers a punch to the hand of head coach Oscar Islas during a workout inside of the club\u2019s gym in Seattle on May 20, 2024. (Photo by Evan Morud)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey learn to put effort into everything in life,\u201d said Oscar Islas, who is the new Sea Mar Youth Boxing Club head coach. \u201cThey know that if they put in effort, they will come out on top. The discipline and the courage they learn inside and outside of the ring. They learn to be strong within.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club staff emphasizes life skills so that athletes are set up for sustained success after high school. Some of the kids come from a background involving gang violence or domestic violence. The staff wants to ensure that their boxers are inspired to pursue a future that will keep them in a safe and healthy environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of them are the first ones to graduate high school and go to college–still that first-generation kind of cycle,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cTrying to achieve that mindset that education is a way out of being economically disadvantaged. It can be a trade school. It can be something that you like. Motivating you to get education to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weir talked about the effects the club can have on the boxers\u2019 lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kids always remember the gym and the people they were with,\u201d said Weir. \u201cI’ve seen the gym change lives not just through boxing but through getting along better with parents and feeling better at school. Just keeping them out of gangs, keeping them out of jail, and giving them a place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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