Inaugural Boxing Academy Summer Camp Opens Doors to Young Boxers

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – Summer may almost be over, but dozens of young athletes are throwing punches while learning discipline and teamwork, with the Boxing Academy of the Bahamas opening its inaugural summer camp this week.

Campers are not only getting the chance to learn the fundamentals, but to develop important discipline and leadership skills.

When you think of sports young people gravitate to, basketball, soccer, and tennis may come to mind.

But as the summer months wind down, 75 young people are trading the court and field for the boxing ring.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports hosted a five-day summer camp at the Bahamas Boxing Academy, giving young boxers a chance to develop their skills while building confidence, discipline, and teamwork.

Coach Keshno Major says it all starts with getting the basics right.

Keshno Major – Coach, Bahamas Boxing Academy
“The first thing they’ll be learning, the basic fundamentals, proper footing, the proper way to throw a punch, rotation on punches. The most important part is defense. You have to protect yourself.”

And the campers are already seeing the difference.

Caden Higgs, a 13-year-old who’s boxed since primary school, says this will help him be a world champion in the future.

Caden Higgs – Camper, Bahamas Boxing Academy
“It feels awesome. I love it, but I have more conditioning and more training. I have more sparring partners. It’s perfect. Again, I could not ask for no more.”

Caden Higgs – Camper, Bahamas Boxing Academy
“The whole part about it is, I love that they came through and they actually helped us, and I never saw it being like this, but it’s a real big improvement.”

And the girls are holding their own too.

Camper Samantha Arne sharing her experience.

Samantha Arne – Camper, Bahamas Boxing Academy
“Sometimes I feel a little nervous ’cause, like, sometimes I’m the only girly here, but I know them. Like, I just get used to it.”

And for some campers, the goal extends far beyond the five-day program.

Navardo Cooper travelled from Grand Bahama to take part, and he’s already thinking about the biggest stage of all, the Olympics.

Navardo Cooper – Camper, Bahamas Boxing Academy
“My ultimate goal is to not hopefully, but go to the Olympics and have a professional, a good professional journey. But ultimately is to be a figure for my country, ’cause you know the Bahamas isn’t that big. You got other places like the U.S., Ukraine, Russia, all these big countries with big names that I wanna be one of those people to where, if somebody wanna start boxing, I would be the first person they would see.”