Hackensack boxing program touts rapid growthWednesday, June 5, 2013
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER
The Record
HACKENSACK – When the Bergen Police Athletic League hosts the Night of Champions boxing event Friday, it'll offer more than good competition.
Peter Roldan, 19, of Englewood, left, and Aadam Ali, 15, of Teaneck training at the Bergen County PAL boxing gym. CARMINE GALASSO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The third annual event also will showcase the league's growing boxing program, which has been revived over the past three years with new direction and leadership.
When Don Somerville took over as director in 2010, the boxing program had nine people, he said. More than 90 young people train there now. The gym has become a second home to many of the kids and teens, who have learned discipline and commitment through boxing.
"It's more of a family. It's not just about fighting," said Jamir Cope, 17, a senior at Teaneck High School, who trains there every day after school.
Cope joined the gym because he wanted to learn fitness and skills to defend himself, and his martial arts program costs too much. Members pay $45 every three months for the Bergen PAL gym.
Cope will be fighting Friday along with two other PAL gym members: Aadam Ali, 15, of Teaneck, and Peter Roldan, 19, of Englewood.
Roldan had been in the Suspension Alternative Program at the PAL building because of his involvement in gang fights, and grew interested in the boxing gym next door. He had to wait for his house arrest to end before joining, he said. Now, he trains daily and wants nothing to do with street fighting, which he now thinks is dangerous.
Boxing "taught me discipline and really helped turn my life around," said Roldan.
He has gotten a General Equivalency Diploma and enrolled in Bergen Community College. He finished his first and second semesters with grade point averages of 4.0 and 3.9, respectively, he said.
Somerville used to box in the Hackensack gym himself. Three years ago, he was working as a furniture store manager when he got a call from Michael Mordaga – now the city's police director -- asking him to take over the program.
As a city police lieutenant, Mordaga helped found the Police Athletic League and its boxing program to give an outlet to young people and build connections with law enforcement.
But it faltered a few years ago because of coach turnover, Somerville said.
Word has gotten out Henry Hascup, president of the New Jersey Local Boxing Commission, said the last boxing director trained professionals and amateurs there, while the PAL wanted the focus to be on beginners and youths.
The conflict prompted the coach to leave for a program in Paterson, and many of the boxing program participants followed him, Hascup said.
Somerville has built the program back up by recruiting kids and teens in the schools, at football games and at churches. The boys and girls, ages 9 to 19, come from all over Bergen County to train.
"We pass out fliers," Somerville said. "We tell kids to tell a friend. I think word has just gotten out."
He not only coaches the young people but also acts as a mentor. He takes them to sporting events and on Friday nights they watch DVDs of classic boxing matches. He encourages them to read about famous boxers, and is quick to dispense inspirational words and quotes.
"When a kid boxes, it does major things for confidence and the way they carry themselves," said Somerville. "It helps them be somebody."
The Annual Night of Champions, sanctioned by the New Jersey Association of USA Boxing, will feature local boxers who have won Golden Glove and Diamond Glove championships. Famed heavyweight champion Larry Holmes also is scheduled to appear.
The event, a showcase and fundraiser for the boxing program, takes place at 7 p.m. at Hackensack High School. Tickets are $5 for students, $20 for adults and $30 for adults at the door. For more information, call 201-342-5900.
Email: adely@northjersey.com
