Coaster Photo
Asbury Park Police Lt. Lorenzo Pettway cuts the ribbon at the Asbury Park Boxing Club facility on Main Street Fri. April 12.
By ERIC MEIER
In September of last year there were five members in the Asbury Park boxing program. Today there are more than 65 and still growing.
“I’ve been amazed and so impressed by what’s been going on here,” Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul told the crowd at the ribbon cutting ceremony Fri., April 12. “I’m happy to give any support that I can to this great organization and the new facility that they’ve helped create right here in Asbury.”
The Asbury Park Boxing Club hosted its official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at the facility on Main Street next to the public works yard on Asbury Park’s border with Neptune.
Head coach Terry Fisher thanked everyone for their support in making the boxing gym come to light.
“This is not a challenge, but an invitation for everyone to come on down,” he said. “Our program is based around developing leadership skills and teaching participants discipline. We have coaches working with us that were in the Marine Corp. We plan to use the same 14 leadership traits here in our boxing gym that the Marine Corp does.”
Fisher said there will be a variety of programs for all age, weight and experience.
The leadership class will serve as the foundation and true purpose of the program according to head coach Fisher. It is structured around life lessons, decision-making skills, and situational awareness.
Asbury Park Mayor John Moor noted he used to work in the building many years ago before becoming mayor.
“This building here on Main Street was one of the most underutilized buildings in the city,” he said “ For a long time it was used for the city’s department of maintenance. Many years after that it simply sat vacant. I know because I used to work in the basement of it. It took 10plus years getting the building fixed up and able to pass code inspection. We had to add an elevator, structural supports, and much more. It was a costly project but we all believe it will be well worth it. It’s a great place to keep kids off the streets and provide our community with a great place to thrive.”
He thanked Police Athletic League leader Chris Hill and Police Lt. Lorenzo Pettway getting the place up and running.
Coach Debra Esola said she’s seen so much positive work come out of the program since its soft opening last year.
“I’ve seen kids build so much more confidence in the last year, lose weight, become much more healthy both mentally and physically, and develop their boxing skills,” she said.
Pettway said the city had not had a boxing program in more than five years.
“We wanted to see if there was a way we could get more involved with our community,” he said. “We decided to use some leadership principles and traits from the Marine Corp. Our ultimate goal is to one day have a very large community center with all sorts of different programs for everyone under one roof.”
This program, which was designed by the Asbury Park Police Department and community members, aims to provide a positive foundation for local youth, young adults, and adults that are participating. Legendary boxing champion Manny Pacquiao once famously said, “If you work hard in training, the fight is easy”. His famous quote refers to much more than just boxing. This type of ideology is something that the coaches of the Asbury Park Boxing Club continuously emphasized on the official opening day.