Steely and wry, 14-year-old Arnold Baird has his eye on his prey.<\/p>\n
“I definitely want to be a pro,” he said, clutching his boxing bag.<\/p>\n
The Arente teenager has been boxing for three years. In some ways, it was inevitable that he would find the sport.<\/p>\n
“When we were younger, we used to fight a lot,” Baird said.<\/p>\n
“I was with the wrong audience and stuff and felt like I had to prove myself.<\/p>\n
At his father’s suggestion he took up boxing and eventually found his way to the Alente Boxing Academy.<\/p>\n
“It gave me discipline \u2014 I came to training,” Baird said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been busy, so it freed me up a lot. You could say I was trained.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Jim’s head coach, Jason Lord, was a former boxing champion and wasn’t all that different from Baird growing up.<\/p>\n
Boxing also put him on the right track.<\/p>\n
“All the trouble and all the crap I had, boxing was always there,” Lorde previously told ABC.<\/p>\n Alice Springs has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n The prime minister visited outback areas last week to announce changes to alcohol policies to curb crime rates.<\/p>\n But community members say proactive programs like Rose’s could play a key role in addressing the town’s burgeoning property crime problem.<\/p>\n “Boxing has a natural way of helping people,” Lorde said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many children who get lost.<\/p>\n “We help them stay on the water so they can stay in school. It’s a holistic approach.”<\/p>\n Founded four years ago and run entirely on a volunteer basis, the gym’s coaches also serve as mentors and build relationships with young people who walk through the doors of the academy.<\/p>\n “Kids just want love and want to feel safe,” said Lorde.<\/p>\n “It’s about giving them a place to feel safe and that’s what we’re doing here. We listen to them. It’s a kind of therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the out-mentors have a kid-like background like this and chat with them about getting out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nick Shehadi, teacher by day and mentor by night, said the discipline required in boxing can lead young people to good results.<\/p>\n “When the children come, they are treated with love and care,” he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBoxing also has a tough love, but kids learn respect for themselves and their communities, discipline, and not to make hasty decisions.\u201d <\/p>\n The gym also hosts women’s, family and after school programs.<\/p>\n We also work directly with local Indigenous schools and a non-profit social enterprise, Saltbush. Saltbush helps bail out young people in trouble with the law.<\/p>\n Lorde said some of these youngsters were “the ringleaders of what’s going on on the streets” but were like “other kids” at the gym.<\/p>\n “They love it here,” he said.<\/p>\n “We are developing them to be community leaders.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lorde has seen dozens of young people join the gym and turn their lives around.<\/p>\n With strong ties to the gymnasium, the Ipirinya School teaches in five indigenous languages \u200b\u200band works to create a culturally safe environment for First Nations students.<\/p>\n Principal Gavin Morris said he “absolutely” saw it change young people for the better.<\/p>\n \u201cImproving attendance, improving behavior, improving resilience, improving coping strategies \u2014 boxing isn\u2019t the only thing they do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese coaches understand the context of the community. They understand the complexities of the background our children come from: the strengths, the barriers and the limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n Morris said Jim’s “strengths-based” community-driven approach is part of its success.<\/p>\n Over the past two years, Jim has received about $5,000 from the Northern Territory government, but Lord said continued funding would make a big difference to the program.<\/p>\n Lord said he “loves doing” the job and will continue as a volunteer.<\/p>\n But he said the lack of funding has made it difficult to keep mentors coming back as volunteers every day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
“a kind of therapy”<\/h2>\n
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“tough love”<\/h2>\n
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‘Not just boxing’<\/h2>\n
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