Lynwood : Youth Athletic League Set

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block is to be keynote speaker at the July 18 opening of the Sheriff’s Department’s first youth athletic league in the Lynwood area.

Volunteers are busy renovating a 20,000-square-foot building at 3100 E. Imperial Hwy., which will house a boxing and sports program as well as a crime information center. The center will provide crime prevention information to the public and include a fingerprinting unit for children.

Both boys and girls are expected to lace on boxing gloves to participate in the athletic program which is aimed at curbing street gang activity. In addition to boxing, there will be seasonal sports programs.

With the help of a state grant and the City of Lynwood, the deputies of the Lynwood substation secured the use of the building and hired a woman to teach 6- to 18-year-olds about “boxercise.” The youths will be taught physical training and self-defense, as well as general exericise.

The building formerly housed the Montgomery Ward automotive center, which donated it to the city. The program received a $56,000 grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning and a $6,000 city grant.