Arrernte Community Boxing Academy: Jason Lord using sport to change Red Centre lives
A former Australian champion who had been on the “path to ruin” as a young man is now using boxing as a way to change Red Centre lives. Why he believes the Territory could produce elite boxers.
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There is more to Arrernte Community Boxing Academy than just fighting.
Arrernte man and former Australian champion Jason Lord started the Academy in 2018, but the initiative has since been repurposed.
“We started off as an actual boxing program for travelling fighters and so forth,” Mr Lord said.
“And it slowly started to move into more of a community focus, where we didn’t just focus on boxing, but on all the goodness that can be given through boxing.”
The gym now supports troubled youth as a priority – a cause deeply personal to Mr Lord, who says he had been on the “path to ruin” before he turned to boxing as his “way out”.
Mr Lord said he hoped the sport would connect with young Territorians today as it did with him.
“We take this boxing program to remote communities, and it’s been a big hit,” he said.
“We’ve even received requests from the Top End and throughout Territory.
“There’s probably not a school in Alice Springs we haven’t run some boxing programs with or provided a mentoring or youth collaboration role.”
Having covered hundreds of kilometres to deliver lessons, Mr Lord said he believed elite boxers could emerge from the Red Centre.
“(For) most of these guys, fighting is in their blood,” he said.
“And if you can harness that a bit better and have them working towards something, you don’t know where they’ll end up.
“There are that many kids I see come into the gym – each day I see a (potential) Olympian or an Australian champion, there’s so much talent.”
Mr Lord confirmed his classes were driven by more than just hard work.
“A lot of what we do is done by love, and I think just having that care factor in the gym helps keep people here and helps people be more driven toward their (goals).”
And what does the future hold?
“There’s a big chance we could be funded program – it’s probably time for me to let it go and sort of flourish,“ he said.
“We’ve already linked up with Boxing Australia which is the governing body for the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games and all (the staff) here are registered trainers with the AIS.
“But it’ll be big thing for me to sit back one day and watch boxing change people’s lives the way it did for me and other people I know.”
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