ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
ORGANIZERS OF the Roanoke City Boxing Association want to get kids off the streets and into a safer environment.
It's not a novel approach, but it is chock full of irony. To keep youths from fighting and doing other undesirable things on street corners, a few people want to get them to fight somewhere else.
That's the sweet science at the roots of the Roanoke City Boxing Association Inc., a non-profit corporation that is preparing to open a gym in the bowels of Victory Stadium, in the space where visiting football teams once dressed.
It isn't just a dream. The boxing association already has a board of directors filled with local heavyweights. It also has a Community Development Block Grant, approved by Roanoke City Council. The block grant provides $50,700, through June 30, 1997, for the development, start-up and operation of the program.
``The idea was to develop a good, strong youth boxing program in Roanoke,'' said Rick Hawkins, the Roanoke native who is the RCBA's executive director. ``There have been boxing programs here before, but they always needed funding. They tried, but they struggled. Hopefully, with the city's backing, this will work.
``The program is set up to provide an alternative for our youth. It's another alternative, and maybe it will help turn someone away from crime or drug addiction or whatever trouble. It's a positive step.''
It also will be free to youths, and directed to those ages 12-21 from low- and middle-income homes.
What soon will be Victory Gym is under renovation in a 4,000-square-foot area under the stadium grandstands. There will be space for two rings, numerous workout bags, Nautilus equipment, showers and an office. The program also has its roots firmly planted in Roanoke.
Besides Hawkins, the man who fought for the program is its chairman of the board, councilman Jim Trout, who was a local amateur boxer in the 1940s at the YMCA and in the Police Athletic League. Then, there's Willard Barbour, who is returning to live in his native city after an absence of more than 50 years.
Barbour, 70, will be the city boxing association's trainer. He just moved back to Roanoke after many years in the pro boxing business, where his fighters have included heavyweight Pinklon Thomas. Barbour's circuitous trip from his birth on Ninth Street to his hometown stadium recently included six months of work at former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier's gym in Philadelphia.
``I was here visiting my mother, who just passed away, and I heard about this program,'' Barbour said. ``I've been here and seen the kids on the corners. This is needed. I figured I could help. If we don't have more than 50 kids, I'll be surprised.''
The board also includes: George ``Killer'' Miller, William Fleming High School's assistant principal and head football coach; Mac McCadden, the former city councilman; Maynard Quesenberry, coach of Virginia Tech's club boxing program; Pete Lampman, president of Virginia Amateur Sports, which stages the Commonwealth Games of Virginia; and Sgt. David Viar of the Roanoke City Police Youth Bureau.
The boxing association will be monitored by the city's Grants Compliance Office to ensure the program follows the guidelines stipulated in the grant. The organization also has close ties to the city's parks and recreation department.
``We know we're going to be under the microscope,'' Hawkins said. ``We don't have any problem with that.''
The only two salaried employees of the association are Barbour, at $10,000, and Hawkins, at $8,000. Hawkins will run the program from an office under the seats, adjacent to Victory Gym.
Trout, Hawkins and Barbour hope to go into the city's schools to promote the program. Hawkins and his partner in Steelhawk Promotions, Melanie Steele, have tied the Nov.29 pro boxing card featuring Thomas Hearns at the Roanoke Civic Center to the youth program. A portion of any profits from that show will go to Victory Gym.
The promotions firm hopes the Hearns fight will generate interest in the city boxing association. The RCBA also intends to seek corporate sponsorship and hopes to form a booster club. Hawkins wants to further help the program by getting boxing onto the Commonwealth Games schedule, with amateur boxers from around the state fighting in a ring before a stadium crowd during the annual Games.
Hawkins is targeting late November or early December for the Victory Gym opening, depending on the completion of renovations and the arrival of equipment. The future boxers won't even have to come to the stadium, either.
``We're hoping to lease a van and go out and pick up the kids who are interested at designated locations after school,'' Trout said. ``We'd have return vans going back to their homes at a reasonable hour. This isn't going to be something they do instead of school work.''
There also has been discussion of the potential for a tutoring program tied to the boxing association. Hawkins said the preliminary plans are for the gym to be open six days a week (closed Sunday), from a late-morning hour until about 7:30 p.m.
``Within two years, we're hoping to be self-sufficient,'' said Hawkins, who 20 years ago played football at Fleming. ``We'd like to have amateur boxing shows on the [McLelland] field, or over in the National Guard Armory. Hopefully, if we get this going, maybe someday we can have the Golden Gloves here. Maybe we can have a kid in the Golden Gloves.''
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff Rick Hawkins (left), executiveby CNBdirector, and Willard Barbour, trainer, will oversee the renovated
gym in Victory Stadium. color. Graphic: Color Logo by ROBERT
VINEYARD.