Emdad Rahman In the UK, sport is one of the most popular tools used to encourage and promote activity. The city of London boasts some of the poorest and disadvantaged areas in the UK.
London is a city with some of the most deprived areas in the country, where a third of the youngsters come from a ethnic background. Child poverty rates are the highest in the country.
Omnibus Kids Gloves boasts World WBO champ, Colin McMillan, Olympic gold medalist, Audley Harrison, Miriam batten, BOA secretary and former Olympic gold rowing champion. The initiative provides opportunities for young people to gain a greater feeling of self esteem and better social skills. So they can gain educational ambitions.
The object of the scheme is to attract people in the 8 -19 year age range to take up elements of sport and a healthier life style, in doing so, providing them with a thorough grounding in fundamental skills. Awards are offered in five stages with incentives at every stage thus giving a sense of achievement at interim periods. By this method interest is more easily maintained through a higher level of motivation.
Boxing training schemes for young people are run over 10 week periods and involve a minimum of 20 sessions before final assessment. Each practice session lasts 1 1/4 hours in duration.
One of the attractions of these sessions is that there is no sparring involved, which does away with the needs for the M.E.3 Medical Card. Practice is provided by the adoption of skill challenging situations as shadow Boxing, partner Work, pack work and a variety of hitting apparatus such as punchbags and shields.
The ethos of the club is to use sport as a common experience platform to unite communities. The focus here is in the Eton Road community centre in Ilford, where Cesay and Md Khurram, two highly charismatic boxing trainers are working with young people, to enhance their lives and to provide direction.
Tony Cesay is an ex international boxer and captain of the world famous Repton boxing club in Bethnal Green, east London. The ABA national champion runs Omnibus operations in various areas of east London, including, Canning Town, Newham and Redbridge. Tony, a social entrepreneur has been working with the community for a number of years. Tony is a great believer in prevention; “it’s all about life discipline. We are more than just a boxing club. Here we school our young people in discipline, fitness, we counsel them and encourage good citizenship.
“In essence, we try to enhance the lives of our participants whilst working with them to better themselves in diverse areas.”
Ayesha Patel, age 6 is a new member of the club and the only girl in an all boy crew. Ayesha is a pupil of Farnham Green school in Ilford; “I enjoy the boxing and skipping – my Dad brings me and he watches me when I box.”
Brothers Ismael and Talha Rahman of Apex school in Barking attend every week; “ I really enjoy boxing and I really look forward to coming here” said Talha. Big brother Ismael was also very enthusiastic; “Tony and Khurram teach us so well that when I go home I’m so tired that I wash and sleep like a log.”
Ruslanas, aged 11, came to the UK 2 years ago from Lithuania. He is aiming much higher; “I’m hoping to one day compete at a national level or even higher.”
Trainer Khurram runs simultaneous sessions for the older boys; “We focus on developing young people for their adult life and work towards preventing problems before they become too big – The spirit here is wonderful and it is a pleasure to teach all these enthusiastic young people. Were not demanding too much too soon and that sport is for them and not for us, it can all become a reality.”
Umm Sharif whose son attends Tuesday sessions was very complimentary; “this is proof of increased self esteem in children. The trainers are very professional and committed and the enthusiasm of the kids is a joy to see. These sessions are making the community come togther. Kids can interact, whilst not caring about their backgrounds, race or religion – it’s a brilliant project.”
Presented within the Fair play Guidelines the whole purpose of the scheme is to use fun to increase participation and develop skill.
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Contact Omnibus Kids Gloves
Contact Name: Tony Cesay
Telephone 020 7511 6735, 07932 006 929
Email: tcesay@aol.com
Fax 020 7511 8166
Address YMCA St Marks Church, Tollgate Road, London, E6 5YA
To find a scheme near you or if you want to speak about getting the project involved at your School, College, Sports Centre then Please ring the number above.
Comments from young people
Ali, 12 of Beal High School; “I have been attending here for a month – I like the feel of the heavy boxing gloves.”
Sohail Qureishi,12; “I like running and warming up.”
Shahbaz,8, “I don’t like football or other sports. Boxing is much more fun.”
Umar,7, “We get T shirts and goodies. I like meeting friends I have met here.”
Ibrahim, 8, “One day I would like to be a real boxer. That’s why I come here.”
Alex,8, “I have become strong and healthy since I started to come here, I always look forward to coming.”
Sahel, 9, “I have made a lot of friends here.”
Adnan, pupil of Woodlands Infant school; “ I like the feel of the punchbag.”
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