BOXING
There are many benefits to playing sports, from getting fit to acquiring new skills, to making friends. But, for then 13-year-old Wakeria Reynolds, it was a chance for her to change her life. It wasn't vollyball, track or softball that she was introduced to. It was boxing.
At first, all instincts suggested that it wasn’t a good idea because of the reputation it had for brutality and blood. But many believe that boxing also teaches self discipline and aides in anger management. And that was exactly what the doctor ordered.
It was her 7th grade year and just like any teenager, problems were arising in her life. “I had a lot of anger issues," she admits. "And I used to get into trouble a lot at school. It got so bad at times that I would just punch the walls. I would punch everything and mess things up. Instead of disci-plining me all the time, my principal pulled me to the side one day and had a conversation with me.”
It was at that moment that her life was changed. She should have been expelled but instead, Dr. Dione Simon, principal of Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy introduced her to a friend who just so happened to be a boxing coach.
“Before I started boxing, I knew nothing about it. The coach told me I had one shot to show him what I could do.”
Not Just a Sport
Joyce Oscar
Photo by J. Mitchell