A boxing gym hidden behind an unassuming home in Yass is not only developing athletes but changing lives

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The New South Wales town of Yass is often overshadowed by the national capital down the road, but it is quickly gaining a name for producing young boxers. A gym hidden behind an unassuming home is not only developing athletes but changing lives.

Transcript

00:00 From the outside, this looks like a regular country home.

00:06 But as you walk down the driveway to the shed in the backyard, it quickly becomes obvious

00:11 that it's so much more.

00:12 It's not just a boxing gym for me, it's a family.

00:16 The Valley Boxing Gym opened in 2020 and is now home to more than 70 boxers with varying

00:22 levels of ability.

00:23 From up and coming talent like Michaela Armstrong, who won the prestigious Gene Lewis belt in

00:28 America late last year.

00:30 I came out to Aaron and he's like, "Do you want to go in the ring?

00:35 Do you want to go to the Olympics?"

00:36 And I'm like, "Yes, I want to go to the Olympics."

00:37 And he's like, "OK, that's your goal."

00:38 And he's just like pushed me to my best.

00:44 To kids with confidence or health issues, the local sergeant and parents who unexpectedly

00:52 want to join in on the action, like Max Miyok's mum.

00:55 It threw me off a little bit.

00:57 She's always been a little bit sceptical of it, but she seems to enjoy it, so I'm really

01:01 happy about that.

01:02 Max and his whole family, I'd hate to walk into that house in the middle of the night.

01:08 The coach has breathed new life into a community that didn't know it needed it.

01:13 A bit of a character, but I love him.

01:17 He's like a second dad, he's taught me things that I never would have known without him.

01:20 So if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I would have been.

01:23 But the athletes have given him just as much.

01:26 I suffered.

01:29 So just thought having something to give, you know, when you suffer from mental health,

01:36 sometimes putting something above yourself gives you purpose.

01:41 Not only am I helping them, they're helping me.

01:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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