‘Forgotten Youths’ lay the ‘Foundation’ for future successes

Sep 16, 2016 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin
The old adage to ‘train a child the way he should grow so that when he advances in age he will not depart from it’ still rings true today centuries after it was first advocated. The youths of today have been given

endless scope and the disciplinary mechanisms available to their parents have been drastically reduced to the extent that discipline has been discarded through the window ages ago.
Naturally, the concomitant results are deviancy, broken homes and an overpopulated prison among other ills. Despite this, there are many that are confident that children could still be harnessed along disciplined lines to produce wholesome characters even as they engage in clean law abiding activities.
It is this belief that has led the administrators of the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) to pay strict attention to the youngsters’ development and has used the sport of boxing to enhance their development even as those youths engage in sound, wholesome and beneficial activities.
The Gym is situated at James and Belair Street Albouystown and sessions get underway at just around 16:00hrs, after school is dismissed, to allow the youths, all school children, to spend at least two hours engaged in boxing and other developmental activities.
When the gym came into existence, more than 15 years ago, the idea was to focus on the development of the under-privileged youth thus providing an avenue for their firm positioning within the wider society thus the tab ‘Forgotten Youth Foundation.’
Ever since its inauguration, the FYF has had a plethora of coaches and tutors appointed to achieve the goal of reformation of those youths but over the past few years, Sebert Blake and Joseph Murray, both former boxers, have been assigned the task of molding the youngsters.
Kaieteur Sport visited the gym last Wednesday afternoon and as usual the place was bustling with activity.
International Women Boxing Association (WIBA) champion, Shondell Alfred, shadow boxed in the ring while amateur boxers preparing for the impending National Open Boxing Championships either shadow boxed or pounded away on the heavy (punching) bag.
But what caught the eye was the group of youngsters honing their skills on the punching bag; there were five of them. Coach Murray explained that the children attend sessions throughout the week and sometimes on Sunday morning.
His assistant, Blake further explained that the youngsters are drilled on the intricacies of the sport including proper stance, defensive and attacking skills and body strengthening exercises. They are also taught the art of punching which also entails the proper positioning of their feet.
Blake said that while he recognizes the benefits to be derived from the sport, he also admits that there may be a little danger. “We (the coaches) insist that the participants must obtain permission from their parents and we also invite those parents to visit the gym to observe the activities,” Blake explained.
He said that in the absence of a structured academic programme, he personally takes an interest in the children’s academics and many times they may approach him for guidance or explanations for mathematical and other problems they may encounter. “I also encourage them to read a lot since I believe that is a solid basis for their academic development,” Blake said.
Those boxers attending sessions on Wednesday afternoon were Malachi Jones, 12 yrs old and attending Dolphin Secondary School, Ceon Graham (10) of Tucville Primary, Samuel Bidajhar (9) of Ketley Primary, Vickacy Graham (8) of Tucville Primary and Travis Inverary (8) of Ascension Primary. Already, Malachi, Travis and Ceon have chalked up a few fights in the Diamond Mineral Water/Pepsi U-16 boxing tournament.
Ceon fights in the 64.2kgs class and has chalked up 4 wins with one loss while Travis, fighting in the 75kgs division, has 6 wins with one loss. Malachi has only fought once in the 74kgs division and is still to register a win.
Blake said that the management is battling against the odds but are determined to provide the best for their charges. At the moment, the facilities they are forced to work with are substandard and present a further challenge.
“We are in need of adequate gears like speedballs, boxing gloves, jump ropes and a plethora of other equipment,” bemoaned Blake. Even the electricity system is substandard and in need of attention since only a bulb partially illuminates the gym and forces an early end to sessions.
Mr. Blake said that they have made numerous appeals for charitable assistance but these appeals have not been answered. “Hopefully, in the near future we might attract a godfather who may just bless these youngsters with much needed assistance,” Blake surmised.
In the meantime, the youngsters keep on toiling under the appropriate tab of Forgotten Youths.” They are confident that one day a Good Samaritan will come along and remove the unmerited tab. As the coach expounds, “They may be forgotten now but pretty soon they will leave indelible impressions that will always be remembered.”

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