A newly opened boxing club in the Gare Maritime on Brussels' Tour & Taxis site where young people living in poverty can train for free will be officially inaugurated on Saturday.
The new Boxing Academy aims to be a safe place where 80 boys and girls (aged between 8 and 20) from Brussels can try out the sport every Saturday under the approving eye of professional coaches.
“In Belgium, one child in six lives in poverty; in Brussels, that figure is even higher. Children and young people living in poverty often run a higher risk of social exclusion," said Jill Boon, Red Panther and co-founder of Sport2Be, which aims to be a springboard for disadvantaged young people a general start in active life.
Credit: Sport2BE
"We want to remove the financial barriers to sports. Boys and girls living in Brussels can come and box here from 8 years old, an age that is deliberately very low," she said. "This way, we create a close bond with the young people and we can also further guide them later in life."
Youngsters with diverse backgrounds are divided into age categories and can train in complete intimacy in a safe and inclusive environment. About a third of young boxers in the Boxing Academy are girls.
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Studies have shown that one in five Belgians would like to exercise more but are held back by financial constraints, said Sophie Criquelion, leader of Diversity, Inclusion & Social Impact at Decathlon. "We therefore opted for a boxing academy because the Brussels youth was asking for one. Boxing is a sport that appeals to many young people."
The entire set-up and furnishing was financed by the Decathlon Foundation, an international non-profit branch of the sports store chain of the same name.
