Our websites and newspapers often focus on only the stars of boxing, those who fight championships or soon will be.  It’s easy to forget the grass roots of boxing where just about everyone who has put on a pair of gloves skipped their first rope and hit their first punching bag.

 

Sometimes it takes adversity to remind us about the makeshift gyms built from nothing and the volunteers and caring adults who sacrifice their time and money to give kids a place to stay out of trouble and build their dreams.

 

One of those individuals is Robert Healy. He runs the South Park Boxing Club in Allegheny County’s South Park near Pittsburgh.  Healy, an electrician by trade, has spent the last three years turning an old barn into a gym where youngsters learn the sport, test their competitive talent and most of all stay out of trouble.

 

Those noble objectives didn’t detour thieves from breaking into the boxing club on Wednesday night and stealing thousands of dollars of boxing gear.  The robbery was chronicled in Thursday’s editions of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette.  Five heavy bags, four speed bags, head gear, training mitts, sparring gloves, a timer, a stereo and even water bottles were stolen.

 

“They got about everything,” Healy told the Post-Gazette. “There are two old bags still hanging and a couple of old pairs of gloves.  We just feel a little bit violated right now.”

 

The Allegheny County Police are investigating the burglary and Healy is confident no one connected with his club is involved. “Everybody in this game’s a little bit nuts,” he said. “But we’ve got a real camaraderie here. I really could not see any of the kids doing anything like this.”

 

Healy’s boxing team was scheduled to compete in a series of amateur bouts at Heinz Field Thursday night.  Fortunately, Healy kept the competition gear at his home.  The boxing community in Pittsburgh is already rallying to supply him with gear and other equipment to keep the gym operating.

 

“The boxing community will pull together and help us out a little bit, but it’s a setback,” Healy told the Post-Gazette. “Even though it’s a pretty Spartan place, it took us a while to get it like we had it.  It’s unfortunate for us, but we’re not going to pack our bags. We’re not going to let it get shut down.”

 

Persevering through adversity? That might be the best lesson his youngsters will ever learn.