GLENDALE : Boxing Program Back in Business

The sweating, punching, jumping, weaving and bobbing of boxing is back in Glendale.

The Glendale Youth Boxing program stepped back into the ring this week after organizers took more than a monthlong break to refurbish and install equipment in a gym at Glendale Presbyterian Church.

Nearly 35 middle-school and high school-aged students showed up for training sessions Wednesday and Friday. The program, which can accept up to 40 students, is sponsored by Glendale’s police and parks departments.

“They were a good crowd,” Officer Rod Brooks said. “I’m sure the word’s all over the schools now.”

The program, which made its debut June 7, had been on hold since the last week of July to allow time for city officials to purchase and install $10,000 worth of new equipment, including a boxing ring and various size punching bags. Carpeting inside the gym was also replaced.

Funding came from the city’s community development budget.

Brooks said the program reaches out to 13- to 17-year-old teen-agers within the Glendale Unified School District. Students are taught self-defense, discipline and teamwork. Training sessions are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 4 and 6 p.m.