The youthful energy of Santa Monica’s teenagers can lead them down many paths, though not all of them are positive. While some may put their eggs into the baskets of academics or extracurriculars, others could fall down the wrong holes if that energy is not harnessed correctly.
Channeling that energy that might be spent on the streets looking for trouble has been the mission of the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), crafting a more efficient environment for teens to let loose in the sport of boxing. The SMPD’s LEAD (Leadership, Engagement, Achievement and Discovery) program has brought kids into the gym to perfect the fighting craft, providing life lessons on discipline and commitment via athletics.
On July 13, over 200 family and friends of teenage boxers crammed into the Churchill Boxing Club on 21st Street for "Saturday Night Scraps," a culmination of what the LEAD group has learned inside the gym. The Churchill location has been an integral partner to the blossoming boxers, lending equipment, gym time and scholarships to the high schoolers involved, and the gym turned simple sparring into a high-profile event with sponsors, food and music surrounding the fights.
"It exceeded our expectations by quite a bit, and to see that support of the families and friends showed the energy in the room," SMPD Lieutenant Lowell Watson said. "Just to see the fighters’ enthusiasm, commitment and determination in the fights … [we] know that they have potential to go farther in this sport."
The idea to get kids in the ring began with SMPD Officer Chad Madrid, who wanted to bring the sport he holds dear into Santa Monica, as well as "all the things that come with it" such as a litany of good habits. The Churchill gym is available to aspiring boxers, who also train at Virginia Avenue Park, but the spaces aren’t made to start pounding each other right away.
"It takes a lot of commitment, you have to be dedicated in your training, it’s not just show up and hit the bag for an hour," Madrid said. "You have to have a good diet, you have to have a good workout routine, you have to [do] a warmup first, it takes a lot of a regimen that these kids didn’t have before. It’s structured."
Madrid noted that while he wasn’t a "troubled kid," he began boxing at 13 years old and quickly saw what it could do for him. Now in his position with SMPD, he realizes that focusing on something positive can show kids "that they have potential to do something bigger."
"For a lot of these kids, boxing is the only sport they do, so they see once they get there and they train for a little, their skills get better," Madrid added. "Then utilizing all the values and principles that they’re [learning], they start looking at themselves and see something that they can be bigger than."
The officer and Youth and Family Services Program Administrator Ana Jara began the program with some well-attended sparring sessions, and eventually brought kids to Churchill to meet 23-year-old super middleweight Diego Pacheco, a Los Angeles native who "lit a fire" under the group, speaking to them about what the sport did for him. After the meeting, the group was able to attend a Pacheco fight at the YouTube Theater, which served as the first live sporting event for many of them.
Now fully immersed in the sport, the teens began their training with the blessing of Churchill management, including owner and "Friday Night Lights" director Peter Berg. After several months of finding their path in the sport, the "Saturday Night Scraps" event was a success, including an exciting fight between Tony Hernandez and Daniel Zepeda. The six-fight card brought out some heavy hitters in the sport, including famous referee and Santa Monica native Gino Rodriguez. More importantly, though, it brought out adult mentors that let the teenagers knew their efforts were being supported area-wide.
"Part of the key of creating a showcase is really about inviting community to come and show the encouragement and support that they have for the young people," Jara said. "I think far too many times, young people walk around feeling like adults don’t really know them, see them or support them, and I think [at the event] each of those kids walked away knowing that there’s a community here that actually sees them and wants to cheer them on."
Though the program is mostly high school-focused, some middle school scrappers are also involved, and any interested youth can sign up via Virginia Avenue Park or emailing Jara.
thomas@smdp.com
