Jeff Horn ambassador of an anti-bullying and empowerment program for schoolchildren

Former wold boxing champion Jeff Horn is the national ambassador of an anti-bullying program directed at primary school aged children. AMAYDA was an anti-bullying and empowerment program.

Former wold boxing champion Jeff Horn is the national ambassador of an anti-bullying program directed at primary school aged children.

The Stretton Boxing Club mentor was bullied as a schoolboy before rising to defeat boxing great Manny Pacquiao in one of the great sporting moments in Australian history.

Horn and his trainer Glenn Rushton (program mentor) have teamed with marshall arts expert Frank Mechler who founded the not-for-profit organisation, AMAYDA (Australian Marshall Arts Youth Development Alliance).

Mechler and his team had already visited more than 15 schools to help both the victims of bullies and young bullies themselves.

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“It is an anti-bullying and empowerment program,’’ Mechler said.

“We train the kids on how to apply positive skills that deal with a bullying situation.’’

Schoolboy Carter Lawson said of the program: “It helps you find yourself, find your person and also boosts your confidence a lot.

Glenn Rushton, Carter Lawson and Jeff Horn

“It teaches you to deal with unexpected situations. I have also seen an improvement in myself an improvement in my strength and general health and endurance. And it is a lot of fun.

“The training is less of training and more of a fun activity to do.’’

Another secondary school student from Brisbane’s south western suburbs, Kane Rose, said the program helped him. “I used to get bullied all of the time and I thought the program might help and it has.’’

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Other locals involved in the program were Lauren McKenzie from Pallara and the Parker sisters from Grand Ave State School, Swaye and Abbi, Mika (St Stephen’s Algester) and Asia (Stretton State College) Partridge, Carter Lawson and Kuraby-based Islamic College of Brisbane trio Ghazi Mrad, Mahdi Shareef and Abu Mahammed.

Jeff Horn watches Lauren McKenzie do some pad work.

McKenzie said the program benefited her. “You get courage and confidence,’’ she said. “And it also encourages other students to come into the program.’’

Horn said: “These kids will get so much more confidence out of the program. Everyone has an inner strength inside them. They just have to bring it out.’’

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He said the productively of bullied children would also improve

He said he wished such a program had existed when he was being bullied as a schoolchild. “A program like this would have built my confidence a lot faster.’

Horn’s trainer at the Stretton Boxing Club Glenn Rushton, a program mentor with AMAYDA, said he saw what building self esteem and confidence did for Horn.

Kayne Rose does some pad work with Jeff Horn.

He said he would never forget the first time former world boxing champion Horn walked into his gym at Stretton as a bullied schoolboy.

“He had victim written all over him,’’ Rushton said.

“He was like the (Marty) McFly character in Back to the Future. It is like he had a Kick Me sign on the back of him.

Glenn Ruston, Jeff Horn and Frank Mechler

“I say to kids, if you were a bully would you pick on you. And Jeff had that look. He’d be one of the blokes you’d pick on.’’

“Look at him now. He is one of the most confident people in the world. He was confident enough to beat a legend like Manny Pacquiao, so that is what you call a quantum shift.’’

He said bullies “don’t like adversaries’’