It’s 5 A.M., monsoon. But instead of warm sheets to nestle in, the sweet aroma of coffee, and the music of nature, it’s scattered garbage reeking of urine, broken alcohol bottles, and echoes of grunts and shuffles from behind a faded blue gate.
Inside, the dreams of G. S. Boxing Academy’s students are in flight. Coming from less fortunate backgrounds, day and night, they sport jerseys and defence shields and engage in coordinated legwork in a worn-out boxing ring or throwing punches at makeshift boxing bags made out of coloured tires suspended from a pole.
The academy, which was resurrected out of what was once the Chennai City Police Boys & Girls Club, is currently being championed forward by a man who has resurrected himself through it. Govindaraj was a born boxer who’d carelessly squandered his dream of entering the government workforce through the sports quota. But since picking himself up, he has been reviving the dreams of kids, which he sees as his own.
Fists of hope
Although he was working full-time as a load man in a railway station, he showed up every day to train the kids part-time at a corporation ground in Egmore, sometimes only for the weather to disrupt the session. And as he was meandering through the city in search of a better space, he crossed paths with Whakapapa Foundation’s K. S. Kharthickeyen and J. L. Abinaya who shared the spirit of training underprivileged children win in life through the art and practice of boxing.
Despite operating with minimal equipment and mounting financial problems, the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS)-approved coach has managed to produce medal winners at national and state levels. In three years, four kids have represented Tamil Nadu at the Junior Men’s Nationals, with one of them wining a bronze medal and two of them getting selected to participate in the Khelo India Youth Games.
And the academy’s proudest moment came in 2022 when Durga Sri, a Class 11 student from Lady MCTM Girls Higher Secondary School, won gold at the National Junior Girls’ Boxing Championship. Durga, who had been training at the academy for just two and a half years, defeated a formidable opponent from Haryana to bring home Tamil Nadu’s first boxing gold in 21 years.
By having been taken aback by how much Govindaraj selflessly gives to the children, Whakapapa Foundation has joined arms with him and began being instrumental in transforming the academy. At times, through procuring funds from well-wishers, other times, by spending out of their own pockets.
Thanks to these efforts, today the academy is a functional space, clean and brightly painted with portraits of boxing legend Muhammad Ali and social reformer Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, alongside inspirational quotes which the students look up to before entering in.
Eyes on the prize
Challenges, however, outweigh their triumphs for now as boxing gloves and other gear wear out quickly, and the cost of replacing them is high. They continue to raise funds to sustain and develop this infrastructure further and ensure that Govindaraj receives a standard salary.
Govindaraj and Whakapapa Foundation have created a community that emboldens children to start using their wings. The academy recently registered as a Section 8 company, formalising its status as a non-profit organisation and opening up more avenues for fundraising. As more people become aware of the academy’s success stories, Govindaraj hopes that the government will step in with support and irrevocably vitalise them. But for now, the focus remains on training, discipline, and dreams… starting tomorrow at 5 A.M.
Eager to hear those echoes? You can find them at: https://www.gsboxingclub.com/
Comments