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PEEKSKILL, N.Y. -- The Be First Boxing team has finally found a new place to train after a long search and is now looking for new recruits.
The team will be registering new students on Monday starting at 5 p.m. at its new training facility.
"We just opened our doors last week and started bringing a couple of the kids in but we've had such an outpouring of people that we said we'd better start doing classes," said team executive director Wes Artope.
The team is leasing a property 1137 Main St. from the city to use as a training facility through the winter. The team was formerly training at the Kiley Youth Center and then the Peekskill Youth Bureau building, but neither location was a good long term fit.
Artope, a Cortlandt resident, said he was grateful to the city for finding a place to train.
"This was made possible through Mayor Foster and Marybeth McGowan," Artope said. "They really helped us push this through, and also Brian Havranek, the deputy city manager."
The program currently has about 30 kids and adults. They compete in local cities including Newburgh, Middletown and Mount Vernon.
The cost for membership for students under 18 is $20 a month and $35 a month for adults. The gym is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with plans to open more days in the future. Boxers are usually trained from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Among the coaches is Fredrick Spry Jr., a member of the long-defunct Peekskill Boxing Team that won numerous titles. Spry said that teaching young people to box is only half the education students get.
"We teach discipline," Spry said. "The biggest thing is getting them off the street for a couple of hours and giving them something positive to do."
Spry said students who abuse their training will get kicked off the team and could also be arrested since their hands are licensed.
"We're very serious about that," Spry said. "If a child who is boxing goes outside and does the wrong thing with it, we'll clip his wings just as fast as we'll accept someone on the team."
Artope said his students actually get into fewer fights once on the team.
"We haven't had one fight," Artope said. "Our kids become more patient and they understand how to deal with conflict. A lot kids have their grades increase and some have gone on to the military, they're very much prepared."
Students looking to compete should bring a birth certificate and two pictures and the $55 charge in order to get a boxing license and passport to compete internationally. The program is looking for donations for equipment, gloves, hand wraps and also to help buy a ring. Fundraisers are planned for the near future.
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