The status of Amateur Boxing
USAB Grassroots Committee Chair Robert Matney
we
are suffering from lack of support and this needs to change and
change quickly. How can we do this? We are basically a grassroot
sport, which has minimum funding from our National office because of
various reasons. It is absolutely terrible, that our sport, which is
120 years old(1888) may disappear in the near future. In many of
peoples minds we are a brutal sport, but as we know, these are the
people that truly do not understand amateur boxing. The skill level,
the endurance, the constant training in a run down gym, smelling of
sweat from the weeks before. Our sport is the saving grace for kids
that have no where else to go and keep them off the streets and out
of
trouble. I recently was at a gym speaking to the coach and we were
taking about his equipment and I ask him about the newly updated
shower at his place.
He commented-------This is the only place the kids can take a
shower!! Does this hit home? In many a case we are the saving grace
for these kids.
We have the cast away's, the kids that choose not to be involved in
teams sports or can't afford to. As we know, membership in our group
is very inexpensive for what we provide the kids. Above all, the
gyms,
provide them with shelter from the problems they deal with on a daily
basis; if only for a few hours.
We are not like the other Olympic sports in our country, which have a
termendous following and financial support. If you check the budgets
on the different sports governed by the USOC, you will see, we are at
the bottom of the barrel. Can you believe curling, has a bigger
budget?
Why is this? We are not a prime time sport we once were, just look at
the last Olympics. we had very little coverage and when we did have
it, it was at an obscure time. Yes, we do have scoring problems, but
that should not take away from the sweet science, we can say the
scoring system is corrupt and sometimes it is very obvious. This is
something we must deal with, and try to continually make strides to
improve it. Our major problem can be explained in a few words:
Marketing and Promotion of our sport.
Unfortunately, we don't have the glamour of ice skating, down hill
skiing, diving, track and field or even snow boarding which
continually rake in the the sponsorship money or the endorsements, as
some of the swimmers or downhill skiers have recently. I believe you
basically have to have money to get into these other sports or
parents
that can afford to support their kids as they pursue their dream.
Just
a question to ponder, What does swimming lessons, diving lessons,
cost
or the cost of downhill skiing, private ice skating lessons cost and
how about the equipment cost? Now compare that to a cost of
participating in our sport! You just need a gym and the heart of a
champion.
I mentioned it earlier in this article, we are a grass roots
organization and if anyone is going to save it; it has to be us. I
believe we can accomplished this by increasing the visibility of our
program, but how. I am planning on trying to doing this in the near
future, so if your interested in learning how you can help saving our
sport contact me at the site below and we can try to restore boxing
to
the prominence it once had.
I believe in everything I have mentioned and there is no Knight in
Shining armor to save us, We have to do it. Until the next time. Ken
William Wise
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dmchur...@yahoo.com
My name is David Churchwell and I am 25 years old in the Northern Virginia area. Although I came late to boxing, never stepping foot in a gym until after I turned 18, I have been intimately involved as both a fan and participant of the sport. I watch cards both big and small on TV and go to as many local amateur and professional matches as I can afford. I've also been a Golden Gloves winner (and loser) at light-heavyweight and had several amateur matches. I've been an announcer at small shows in my hometown, teacher to my friends in sparring sessions in my backyard, and an assistant trainer at any gym I've been involved with. I was injured a few years back while snow skiing and have been unable to participate as a fighter for the time being, but I have continued to follow the sport and try to be involved in any way I can. I'm also looking to eventually get my referee and judge license.
I love boxing. It single handedly transformed me from being grossly overweight at over 300 pounds to a trim 175. More importantly, it taught me discipline, courage, and self-respect. I cannot imagine life without it and my greatest dream is to one day own a gym and teach the Sweet Science to others, being a friend and mentor the same as my own coaches were to me.
All this talk of boxing being on the decline and that our sport is in trouble has substance. However, what we need to remember is that boxing itself is not the problem. The infrastructure is crumbling as officials and participants all suffer from a lack of centralized organization and leadership. The product of boxing, in all its incomparable glory, sacrifice, and skill, is still a very viable commodity. I firmly believe that if we all band together and train well-schooled, well-conditioned athletes to do battle in competitive, exciting bouts at the local level, we can get the next generation to love it as much as we do. It is only from lack of exposure that it no longer has the prominence it once did.
I will do everything in my power to see this done and ask only that older and wiser people than I offer what advice and support that they can. Together, we can restore boxing to the exalted stage to which it belongs and I see a bright future for our sport.
Regards,
David M. Churchwell
USAB Grassroots Committee Chair Robert Matney
meetings, go to amateur bouts, become a certified and registered
official or coach, help gyms in your area and stay in touch with me.
Membership in USA Boxing is important to sustain the amateur programs
around the country. If you are in Virginia, stay up on the events like
meeting and bouts by frequently visiting www.vausaboxing.org. Aslo
subscribe to our USA Boxing Grassroots Group to be involved with
issues that affect the organization as a whole.
The program is alive and well. We have about 35 shows a year and
around 4 LBC meetings too. We just set a new VA/NC Golden Gloves
record with 30 participating registered clubs. Our events garner local
news coverage and hundreds of people attend the events. We need more
people like you because we can never be big enough.
Robert Matney
USAB Grassroots Committee Chairman
USAB East Central Region No.2 Jr. and Sr. Coordinator
USAB Virginia AssociationLBC No.12 President
Washington DC Golden Gloves Alternate Delegate
JOHN BROWN
Thanks,
John Brown
Founder/Owner
Ringside, Inc.
dmchur...@yahoo.com
This is David. I can be reached at my personal e-mail, dmchur...@yahoo.com. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Paul Pearson
From: JOHN BROWN [mailto:John...@RINGSIDE.com]
Sent: Sat 4/23/2011 11:22 AM
To: virginia-am...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [virginia-amateur-boxing:380] The status of Amateur Boxing
phil whiting
| Dont know John! I do know this bunch of emails about how to make 10, 000 at a shoiw sounds good , but try it in a state like Idaho. We have about 18 clubs spread out over 15,000 square miles and a lot of them are in small , impoverished towns. We are kicking butt if we get more than a hundred paying customers. Seem like the USOC and USAB has swept the smaller LBCs under the rug . We just cannot afford to send many kids to what has become very expensive national tournaments due to lack from funding from above. I have kept bitching about having our tournaments in places like Mobile , marquette etc. 600-800 dollar plane tickes for our kids. Why does it fall on deaf ears. --- On Sat, 4/23/11, JOHN BROWN <John...@RINGSIDE.com> wrote: |
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JOHN BROWN
Hello my friend,
Problem is that these tournaments are held in obscure places because no one else wants them.
I have basically given up on USAB and the USOC. The problems in our sport are too numerous for a group on non-problem solvers to handle. I just train fighters in my gym and enjoy watching their success. One of them won the National Golden Gloves last week. That’s enough for me.
Best of health to you,
JB
From: virginia-am...@googlegroups.com [mailto:virginia-am...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of phil whiting
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 12:15 AM
To: virginia-am...@googlegroups.com
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JOHN BROWN
Great to hear from you.
I would love to have someone like you helping me in my large boxing gym.
phil whiting
| I hear you John. Its a shame that this great sport has become only viable at the top for an elite few. Congrats on your guy winning the GGs |