Whether it’s with books or right hooks, the Center for Educational Equity Greenville Boxing Club continues to produce young fighters who excel on the national stage while preparing local youth for better futures.
The club has produced several national champions over the years and continues to send youngsters to high-level competitions. Vaughn Williams, 8, brought home a fourth-place finish from the National Silver Gloves held in February. Kenyori Johnson, 12, finished fifth at the 2023 USA Boxing National Championships this past December in the 90-pound weight class.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, practicing your skills,” Center for Educational Equity founder and coach Shakir Robinson said. “It’s year-round training. The kids sacrifice some of their weekends to go and fight at different USA Boxing competitions.”
Vaughn and Johnson are among 14 members of the CEE Greenville Boxing Club, which is only part of a larger outreach organization dubbed District 25 Youth Development. The larger program also includes basketball, fitness and other activities. The kids hit the books as hard as anyone in the ring. Reading is a must and mentally challenging board games such as chess are set up and ready to be played.
“We find that through sports and recreation, even through fitness and our academic program, that we’re able to find ways to reach youth and help elevate them,” Robinson said. “We want to elevate them and help them be successful in the future.”
Robinson is a former boxer and coaches boxing, preparing some club members for national and international competitions. In 2022, several club members competed in Mexico. But that level of competition is not the objective for every young person who comes to the club’s Pendleton Street location.
“You have a lot of kids that just come and do the fitness workouts and do the intense boxing workouts, and they help build confidence and self-esteem,” Robinson said. “The kids come in to programs that are going to push them in a program that’s going to hold them accountable. A big part of the outreach program is accountability because if you’re not there to go through the workouts, you will never receive the rewards.”
The club, located at 1191 Pendleton St. in Greenville, is a place where mind and body are routinely put through their paces.
“Once you start learning to have a hard-work ethic and paying attention to details and doing things right, you can transfer that into other things you have to do throughout your life,” Robinson said.
This story was filed as part of an editorial partnership between South Carolina Public Radio and the Greenville Journal, which is responsible for its content. You can learn more about the Greenville Journal here.