Mayweather boxing camp: A KNOCKOUT IDEA
Friendship, fitness focus of center-ring activities
By Jeannette Carrillo
Heading into the last week of his inaugural Mayweather Boxing Club Summer Camp, Floyd Mayweather Jr. couldn’t be happier with the results.
“It was important for me to offer a free boxing camp this summer because I wanted to allow (kids) to be part of a first-of-its-kind summer boxing camp. There’s basketball and football camps out here for kids to go to but not boxing camps,” Mayweather said. “It makes me feel great knowing that I’ve been blessed, and I’m in a position to make a difference and give back. It’s truly a great feeling.”
Tucked nondescriptly in between a Chinese Baptist church and a learning center, the team of volunteers, counselors coaches and staff of Mayweather’s training facility is hard at work, stressing a few vital lessons on health and life. Behind a glass door blanketed by black-out shades, the 5- to 7-year-old class is taking its morning break. Kids decked out in white Reebok T-shirts and black bicycle-like shorts chomp on baby carrots and granola bars, while volunteers keep watch. Behind another door at the back of the room, the gym opens into a cavernous loft of mirrors alive with the sounds of teen campers rocking speed bags, whirling jump ropes and landing punches into padded coaches’ mitts.
In the center of the space, the ring sprawls out into a plush, elevated stage. In the midst of activity, it is an impressive sight.
“The purpose of the camp is twofold,” explained Nicole Craig, president of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation.
“(The camp) is part of a positive environment. It teaches boxing skills and exposes kids to the benefits of health and fitness. There is no contact in here.”
Or, at least not the kind of sparring normally associated with boxing gyms. Rather, a quick tour of the facility reveals a more sentimental type of human contact in the form of a hug from one 5-year-old camper to his classmate in support of a good move.
“In here, it’s all about making friends,” Craig said. “So far, we’ve had many kids ask to come back, and we’ve invited back two kids each from the earlier sessions to act as mentors to the younger kids.”
The camp, which debuted July 5, is set to run through Aug. 9 and is open to boys and girls age 5 to 18 who applied for the program in June. Three two-week-long sessions lead campers divided into age groups (5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16 and 17-18) through lessons on fitness, discipline and good sportsmanship.
The camps begin each day at 9 a.m. and conclude at 12:30 p.m. Parents are responsible for getting their kids to and from the gym.
During the day, kids are shown a film, followed by an open discussion on the set of ethics highlighted on celluloid. Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive officer of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Promotions, leads each talk. At that point, Ellerbe says he knows the program has been a success by the type of feedback he gets from kids.
“They ask all kinds of questions, and they’re very respectful. They’re having fun, and I know that they’re learning,” he said.
Two weeks in, Craig said that the coaches, counselors and volunteers are all adapting well, adding that the biggest lesson the staff has learned this summer has been patience.
“This is not a school environment, even though they are all school-age kids,” she explained. “But getting them to abide by a structure has been a lesson for us all.”
Add to that the tight timing of putting the finishing touches on the days’ activities, coming on the heels of a major fight promotion and the gym’s recent expansion and Craig explained the pace has kept everyone on their toes.
Thank goodness for a well-oiled machine.
“The biggest lesson I hope the kids can take away from the camp is that hard work and dedication can help them achieve anything they want to in life,” Mayweather said.
In Las Vegas, the foundation is researching offering an abbreviated camp over the Christmas break, followed by one next spring. Those camps would be shorter, lasting one week in length.
For more information on the Mayweather Boxing Club Summer Camp, or for upcoming program dates and application deadlines, call 671-4176,
or visit www.tfmjf.org. |
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