Youth Boxing Performs Important Social Role Here Isn't there as much value in city of Yuma supporting it as hiring another police officer?

BY Mike Shelton Published on: August 20, 2006    There was a recent story in The Sun this week about the future of the Yuma County Youth Boxing Association (YCYBA). I'm not a member of it, I've never had any formal boxing training, but I have followed boxing. Anyone growing up in the era of Muhammed Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard couldn't help it.    The issue, in my mind, has several parts. There is the social value of boxing for the young people and society generally. There is the cost of providing it. And, there is the question of how, or even whether, to cover the cost from any source.    Let's start out of sequence and go to the middle -- the money. Without attempting to retell the story, let's just say this program needs about $30,000 a year to exist beyond a struggle. In the greater scheme of things, that is nothing. But when you have next to nothing, it feels like everything.    The boxing association has largely depended upon the city of Yuma, establishing an outside agency connection with the Parks and Recreation Department. One way or another, there has been a relationship with the city of Yuma, either directly or as a link to other funding sources, such as Community Block Grants from the feds.    A review from the Block Grant board led to a reduction of grant funds from $20,000 to $10,000. That has apparently endangered the program, possibly more than the board anticipated.    An appeal is being made for additional city funding. Asked for comment, city Councilman Paul Johnson was quoted as saying he was sympathetic but "we have a limited amount of money and a lot of things we need to do with it." Councilman Johnson went on the compare the need for the city to hire a police officer versus giving the YCYBA the money they're asking for.    Let's use Councilman Johnson's example, the need to hire more policemen, as a standard of measure.

On the social value of boxing, the audience is made up of at-risk youths typically unreached and unconnected with traditional sports programs. The remind me of some of my students who didn't have good home role models, and making bad choices based on what little they know. They are in need of a means to constructively relieve a mountain of life stresses.    That is precisely where this boxing program comes in. Generally, youth boxing has been a "safety valve," and a deterrent to criminal behavior. It has a "tough guy" image that is acceptable in ways a soccer game, baseball team or swim lesson is not.    A properly run amateur boxing program -- and nothing has indicated this is anything but a good program -- is very rewarding for kids with problems, helping them work them out and turn their lives around.    Boxing does not simply teach you how to beat up your opponent, as some critics might suggest. Boxers learn how to be good winners, and more importantly, how to be good losers. How to come back from disappointment with training rather than rage. Young men and women from broken environments find structure, goals, and milestones to strive for. Their lives take on meaning. Crime is often a product of a life without meaning, having nothing to care about.    Amateur boxing fosters teamwork by surrounding them with coaches, teammates and helpers who support and encourage them. And they learn how to stand in the ring alone, depending upon their own resources and to follow rules in front of an audience. No cheating. No shortcuts. Then, when you win, you win! They taste success and it carries on outside the ring.    So, the social value of this sport, especially for the demographic population of young people involved, is enormous. One has to think hard to identify a substitute if this outlet does not exist. How sad it is when at-risk youngsters have no options except those designed for those from higher economic and social circumstances. Options that do not fit them will fail them and lead them into a revolving door of crime, incarceration and a wasted life.    If youth boxing does steer youths from a crime track to a good citizen track, then that is something for any council member to consider. Given a political choice of where to place resources, is it better to hire one more officer to arrest a youth, or to sustain a program changing multiple futures and avoiding multiple arrests?

Parks and Recreation programs have often been termed an investment in a safer society. Youth boxing fits in that category and deserves serious funding consideration.    Just as the city rightly assumed a broader social value in supporting the United Way, there is a similar value in supporting this specific sport. It reaches an otherwise ignored population, benefiting both the individual and the larger community.    The boxing association (YCYBA) would also be well-advised to diversify its sources and depend less on a single source, such as the city.    Individual donors can also be a big factor. They can send contributions to:       Yuma County Youth Boxing Association      11745 S. Ironwood Drive      Yuma, AZ 85365    There are many partnering options. Amberly's Place is a marvelous example of gaining sponsorships. Holding raffles is a big part of it. The Yuma Scorpions pride themselves on community involvement. Rotarians, Optimists and the Caballeros de Yuma are solid supporters of youth programs. Don't forget LULAC and Chicanos Por La Causa.    Learn from them, YCYBA. Seek them out. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket, anymore than you'd place all your hopes on one punch. Mike Shelton is a Yuma resident and guest columnist for The Sun. E-mail him at mikshelt@msn.com © Copyright 2006 YumaSun.com