Most of the world’s heroes are not who we generally think that they are, in fact many people would consider heroes to be their favorite sports stars or celebrities. as the saying goes however not all heroes wear capes and that is true of the man that I had the pleasure to speak to last week Edgar Gonzalez Anaheim resident who does wonderful work in the community. More specifically Edgar runs a boxing academy called Who’s Next in Santa Ana, Orange County, where he helps the young boys and girls of the area. He believes that boxing gyms like his are the perfect option for struggling kids and here is why.
Aggression
Many young kids who grow up in tough households or tough neighborhoods have natural aggression which they need to exercise. If it isn’t for people like Edgar Gonzalez, these kids would be letting their aggression out by way of fighting and challenging the authorities. In many cases we see these young kids get involved in gangs, drugs and other illicit behaviors, simply because they have no way to vent. What boxing does for these young boys and girls is give them an outlet for that rage and aggression which they have, allowing them to exercise it in a safe environment.
Discipline
In the most part many of these young boys and girls have a complete lack of discipline because of the way that they have been raised, and trying to instill discipline is not easy. However with people like Edgar Gonzalez around and gyms such as his, we can give these kids the discipline that they need, using boxing as the perfect way in which to do so. In order to be good at boxing you must be able to control your aggression and be disciplined enough to focus on your ability and work on it. The lessons that these kids learn in the boxing gym will stay with them and help them in numerous other aspects of their lives.
Sports are Fun
There aren’t many kids out there who do not enjoy sports and they can be a wonderful way to reach these kids, something which many in schools and outreach centers struggle to do. In the case of boxing however, when compared to something like baseball for example, the kids can not only have fun in the boxing gym but also learn valuable life lessons at the same time. The fun of the sport is what will bring many kids into gyms like Edgar’s and then once they are inside they can be shown how to control that aggression which they have, and they can also be taught how to keep goo discipline.
The children which Edgar has worked with so far in his boxing gym have greatly improved since they began boxing with him and he believes that every struggling community should also have a boxing gym which is aimed at tackling social problems that many youngsters have.
