Maybe it's human nature and the reason football, basketball etc. Do better is because they are team sports, tribal instincts and all that.
The issue needs to be looked at, from a new direction, maybe the core is fine it's the packaging that needs a change.
Just my thoughts on the situation, grass roots level needs fixing in lots of different places in the world.
Well, sort of. Americans have become HIGHLY pacifistic. And the problem is socially you have Libs and Cons blaming each other for the same shit. Libs want utopian societies where you get punished systemically if you're a little mean to someone. Cons want to be able to threaten to shoot you if you're a little mean to them. When I was younger, you could still just go outside and have a scrap. Nowadays you have people who either wanna press charges for fights they started, or jagoffs who are so scared of life they feel like they need a gun to buy a sandwich.
This polarization effecting kids' parents. Kid sees boxing, kid likes boxing, kid wants to box. Parent has ZERO idea what the appeal is. They think of it as dangerous, barbaric, etc. Even though American Football has like 4 times the likelihood of head trauma. It's even seeping into the Hispanic community, who are normally huge proponents of boxing. I've met lots of Americanized Hispanic parents who straight out refuse to let their kid box and usually THEIR parents have to argue with them to get the kid in the Gym.
But I don't think we need to pussify the Sport to keep the appeal. We just have to let parents know what the Sport is really about. I don't tolerate knuckleheads in the Gym, and most of these parents lack of enforcement causes their kids to be knuckleheads despite all the pacifism. When they get some discipline here, the parent is happy. And they don't have to watch how it's done.
the lack of scholarship opportunities hurts it alot, almost any other sport allows for the opportunity to help you or pay for your education...thats a huge draw.
it may cost parents money but it also can SAVE money, as not having to pay for a college education or getting to have your kid go to a very good prep school or get employment or housing opportunities for the parents are also incentives
i have gotten jobs as a result of meeting people who know my kids, an wanted us to play for them, we have had teams allow us to pay less cus they really wanted our kids.
also other sports coaches go out and try to get talent in... i know jesse james leija team at his gym did that; but i don't know how often an actual effort by a gym is made to bring kids in.
I'm trying to network similarly for boxing. My fighters are a lot like a tribe. Last night one of the young kids I train told me his Mother owns a restaurant. I asked if she was hiring, he said she was looking for a cook. I train two cooks who hate their jobs. Bada-bing. This helps weave the community a bit tighter, which is what we need. Our Gym is becoming a lot more progressive, we got some sponsorship and we're working on more. This gives us opportunities. That fight I posted above, Za-Quan is our first ever to qualify for National Golden Gloves by winning State and Regional. Alex has 6 National Titles. Daijon had a National Title, so did J-Flash. This year we had 3 State Golden Glove Champs, first time EVER. On the 19th my team will be in Albuquerque for the Western Nationals. I got 4 fighters going. If they each make it to the quarter finals they're ranked in the Country. Stuff like that builds us up. Gives new kids goals to set.
agree but like anything else that takes time but doesnt make money or put u in position to make money, it can be disruptive to regular life. As a spouse or kid may need or want things.
i used to ferry kids around to boxing tourneys, jiu jitsu tourneysm basketball tourneys, just about everything and i would help their coaches teaches etc run practice, get info out, help parents etc. On top of kicking in money for the kids myself...
shit cost me a ton of money and time, it was fun i was making a difference; but i had to pull back cus it wasnt making me money and i have kids and myself to take care of.
i cant act as if people, all people have the time or financial freedom to commit to these things... i did; but it wasnt maintainable cus of how much time and money that came out of me for it.
now i do it here and there; but i don't have all the time in the world to do it, as i have my own kids and kids on their teams who need help, on top of other things i do.
so while i am big on people making a difference, i get why they don't all the time, it could ruin u financially..or disrupt ur family dynamic. When your not making any money and have no potential too.
Man you don't gotta tell me. I got a 3 year-old, and a 1 year-old, and my lady is the bread-winner. lol Like Outkast said: "True I got more fans than the average man, but not enough loot to last me to the end of the week..." I'm fortunate in how famous this Gym is. We get enough cyclical sign-ups that I didn't lose anything in going to full time training as opposed to managing. I actually make a little more now. But I also think our whole model of training is fucked up. To put it in one sentence:
American trainers are too focused on finding the goose that lays the golden egg. The Ward, the Pacquiao, etc., while the communist Countries' amateur programs are kicking our ass because they focus more on the program and not the athlete.
So I kind of adapted their approach. My program is my focus. If I have ten kids, I'll make champions out of 8 of them if they stick to it long enough. The cream always rises to the top anyway. I'm not going to perform my task mediocre and hope a miracle walks through the door.