A group of nine to 20-year old rangitahi (youth) in west Auckland are learning vital life skills and building confidence thanks to a Boxing Academy part-funded by Henderson-Massey Local Board.
The West Auckland Boxing Academy uses boxing to help teach around 100 rangitahi across the west, teaching fitness, boxing techniques and lifelong lessons about motivation, respect and how to treat others.
The Academy recently held its first prizegiving, acknowledging the hard work and determination shown by the young people during its first term.
Structure
“The project follows a programme structure developed by the Billy Graham Youth Foundation that has a proven success rate”, says Levi Hohua, Assistant coach and mentor at the academy.
“We provide boxing classes and values education to our rangitahi and break the classes into two parts. First, we lead a discussion based on the ‘Passport to Success’ and other issues that young people raise. We then lead a boxing class based on fitness and teaching the skills of boxing in a fun and safe environment.
“Boxing is an attractive sport particularly with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have found the combination of this with values-based education is effective at increasing fitness levels and improving leadership skills and self-confidence”, he says.
Reaping the rewards
The Academy, which received a $4500 grant from Henderson-Massey Local Board, is reaping rewards for the community, says board chair Chris Carter.
“Projects of this type, which are rooted in the community, are effective and generate results very quickly”, he says.
“The funding that the board allocated to this project is clearly being put to great use and is the kind of thing that can change the direction of a young person’s life.
“We see time and again the positive impact that teaching discipline, leadership and building confidence has. My congratulations go to the organisers and to all the rangitahi taking part.”
