Police seek to start local boxing program
By Jesse Phelps

In an effort to provide activities for at-risk youth and to bridge the gap between Latino teens and white kids, the Ojai Sheriff's Department is looking into the possibility of installing a youth boxing program in the valley.

The program would be part of the Police Activities League (P.A.L.), which allows kids ages 8 through 17, for a nominal fee, opportunities to get into things like sports, bike and motorcycle riding and cheerleading. P.A.L. is based in the Oak View Community Center.

Police chief Gary Pentis said that the boxing program would be based at the Boyd Center downtown.

"We can put the program together," said Pentis. "We have some financial resources, we have talent resources for coaching and we have the commitment to make it work."

Grants would pay for a ring and punching bags to be set up in a spare room at the Boyd Center and three officers with various levels of boxing and sparring experience have signed on to oversee the program.
He assured the community that safety would be the name of the game. Pentis said that all the gloves would be thickly padded, headgear would be required and insurance is available at low cost for PAL boxing programs. And officers would be there to watch everything and coach.

Pentis said the program, which aims to integrate at-risk youth into community activities, could be particularly helpful for the Latino population. "They are usually not well connected with local law enforcement," he said. "Of any group, they're probably the most disenfranchised."

The idea is that boxing would appeal to something that the Latino youth population feels passionate about. "Latino kids in general seem to be pretty involved in boxing programs. It's one of their interests," said Pentis. "There are a lot of Latino heroes that are boxers."
Pentis is concerned that gang activity around the valley is on the rise, saying he knows of "seven or eight new members (of Old School Latinos - OSL) that have recently left Matilija, going into high school age."

Gang-related crime, he said, is more prevalent, but the boxing program could help bridge the gap between potential gangsters and law enforcement officials. "Our assaults that are gang-related are up. (The boxing program) provides an opportunity, with the sheriff's department boxer or coordinator running the program, (the kids) get see the (officer) as a human being. They get to build a relationship and there's an opportunity for some mentoring there."

The benefits could go beyond cleaning up the streets, too. Pentis points out that being involved in sports gives the kids some pride and some physical benefit. "It gives them some conditioning, it gives them a focus, something very productive to do," he said. "It's about sportsmanship and competition. It's about the team. The thing is that you're actually putting a better character system in play and it's great way to channel that energy."

It is notable that PAL boxers have frequently gone on to bigger and better things, frequently fashioning professional careers.
Similar programs exist in many cities around California and the nation. And they have been successful in all types of communities. Jill Showalter, the executive director of Westside PAL in Beaverton, OR, a suburb of Portland, said her community has seen a great benefit.

"It's been one of our most awesome programs that we've started out," she said, adding that it's preferable to run the program as opposed to sending youth to neighboring cities. "There's a great sense of ownership, running it through our own facility. The other pivotal point is having a dedicated coach. We've been real fortunate to have a die-hard volunteer coach."

Showalter said the program has been a boon in reaching out to minority youth. "Our youth center sits in a very diverse community," she said. "We service about 70 percent Latino kids. We service that community by having bilingual, bicultural staff and we also translate much of our written materials into Spanish, everything from our applications for participation to our flyers."

Showalter said PAL boxing has caught on like wildfire, partially because it's a unique program. "What we found is that once you get a handful of people, you get word of mouth and it spreads rapidly. In our boxing program, I'd say it's 90 percent Hispanic males. It's a sport that speaks to their culture. And boxing isn't offered by a lot of other agencies."

PAL boxers compete not only locally but they take field trips and fight for community and individual pride against boxing teams from other locales. Individuals can advance as far as their talent and desire take them, but PAL boxing promoters point to the team concept as the primary benefit.

Oxnard is one neighboring municipality with a successful PAL boxing program and this weekend will host the California State Championships. Nearly 150 kids from throughout the state will compete. Winners will go on to fight at the nationals, which will take place this year in Toledo, Ohio.

It's exciting to think, said Pentis, that some of Ojai's at-risk youth could soon be competing on a national stage. But the benefits can start more immediately and on a much more local scale. "If your building those relationships, then the kids have much less chance to join gangs, be running on the street and getting involved with vandalism and thefts," he said. "It's something positive."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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