The Garland 9th Street Gym Project was recently rated No. 1 on the list of U.S. gyms with the most members in 2023. Most of the members are school kids of all ages as well as young people recently out of high school.
There is a long list of reasons why the boxing gym has such a high membership. One of the important reasons is that the coaches, mentors and tutors genuinely care about the kids, and the kids know that. In addition, some of the kids come from single parent homes and often look to the coaches for help and encouragement like fathers usually give. Some kids look at the people at the gym as family because they are like family that encourages and supports one another. It’s also a place for those kids who do not feel that they belong anywhere. Once they go to the gym for the first time, they know they belong.
Dave Swavey, the founder of the boxing program, is proud of all the kids and he lets them know it. He’s also proud that the gym has grown and thrived and that it has helped so many children.
“The growth of the gym is proportionate to the success of the children before them. Word of mouth has been our best advertisement from those children,” said Swavey.
In the many years that The Garland Texan has been publishing stories about the boxing gym, the boxers have shared why it is so important to them and why they love going there. Some information from those past articles is below:
- Student athletes that train at the 9th Street Boxing Gym must meet specific program requirements, and one of those is that they must be passing all classes. They often share that this makes them work harder at school.
- A tutor who works at the gym follows each participant’s status and tutors them when they need help. They also check report cards at the end of every six-week period. The kids said that they know that the tutors care, so they want to avoid disappointing them
- They understand that there are no exceptions on the passing grade requirement. The gym rule is “School first, boxing second.”
- A middle school boxer said that the program gives him something to do and that it has boosted his self-confidence.
- The rules are simple, don’t break the law or misbehave, don’t disrespect others, keep grades above passing level. The kids explained that they understand this and will follow the rules to stay in the program.
- Each student is assigned a specific coach to help hone his/her skill. They form a bond of respect and lasting connections.
- The program instills a sense of value and drives the kids to become better citizens and be a part of society that does their part.
- The coaches and tutors not only care for these kids, but they’ve also shared that they admire the kids and their amazing level of dedication.
- Many of the kids have shared that they’ve received awards for perfect school attendance and/or for making the honor roll, and this has instilled a sense of accomplishment.
- There are rich kids, poor ones, kids with good home lives and kids without parents, all train together and learn not just a sport, but important life lessons as well. They learn that discipline is the key to success in all their pursuits. They also support each other.
- Several kids in the boxing program have graduated from high school with both their high school diplomas and community college degrees simultaneously. They often continue on to receive full scholarships to four-year schools.
- In a chance meeting between Swavey and a past gym participant, the young man said that the program had saved his life. The student had written a letter to a judge requesting permission for him to join the boxing gym instead of going to jail. That was over 20 years ago. Today he is married, has a son, is friends with the judge and has not been in trouble since then.
- The kids talked about how the boxing program has taught them to set priorities because they have to devote the appropriate amount of time to boxing, but more importantly, to schoolwork.
- It has also taught them that to succeed, they must always try their best.
- One boxer shared that if he wasn’t at the gym, he would most likely be out partying and doing “dumb stuff.
- A former boxer from the program has volunteered at the gym for over 20 years and coaches some of the kids. He said that he stuck around after graduation because he wanted to repay what the program had done for him.
- Another said that the gym has taught him a lot, including discipline and that it has helped him get ready for the real world.
- A female boxer, when a high school junior, said that she had been going to the gym all her life. Her brother also boxed at the gym, and he now has an engineering degree. She shared her plan to go to college then continue to medical school and become an anesthesiologist. She added that she used to be one of those students who didn’t know anything and then became one of the highest-ranking students in her class.
- “This gym is filled with love. All of us here have known each other since we were little and we want to help each other succeed.” — direct quote from a participant.
- Participation in the boxing program has taught the kids to be gracious winners and that there will also be losses in life that they have to deal with.
- A boxer’s brother got in trouble and went to prison and he saw what it put their mother through. He decided that he didn’t want to cause her more problems, went to the gym, and said he never looked back. He added that he had never had a father figure in his life and that the coaches had filled that void.
- A quote from another participant – “If I hadn’t come to this gym, my life would look very different right now – for the worst. I thank God every day that I came here.”
- A boxer at the gym recently made it to the Olympic trials. At an interview before he went to Colorado for the match, he said, “The coaches are not there to make champions as much as they are there to make exceptional human beings.”
And that is exactly what they are doing at the 9th Street Boxing Gym.