Gloves off to get sponsor for talent
ALevin amateur boxing club with a proven track record is looking for a sponsor to help promising talent compete against other boxers from around New Zealand.
Perry Rackley has coached “thousands” of people of all ages and sizes to fitness from an old classroom first donated to Hinemoa House in 2006. The youngest was 6 and the oldest 76.
He says there are youngsters showing raw talent and potential who deserve a chance to compete.
Boxers who had proven themselves could compete at tournaments but, at the moment, travel is restricted to day trips to nearby places like Palmerston North and Wellington a few times a year.
Now, with at least five boxers within the club ready to test themselves in the competitive arena, Rackley says a sponsor would enable them to compete at tournaments around the North Island that require an overnight stay, as weigh-ins are often staged early on the morning of a tournament.
“In the old days, you were billeted out, but that doesn’t happen anymore,” he says.
Incredibly, despite the number of people Rackley has trained, very few have made it to the competition ring.
That’s because he has stayed true to a philosophy that there is no point in putting a boxer forward unless you are confident in his or her abilities.
Rackley, who coaches out of Hinemoa House, has in recent times enlisted the help of expatriate Englishman Jon Birch, joining him on the coaching team.
He says the Levin gym prides itself on being the cheapest in New Zealand. Through grants, Rackley and Birch can take their boxing training into Levin schools to give basic entry-level tuition to interested students.
The visits take in schools around Horowhenua and were initially supported through sponsorship by Sport Manawatu¯ between 2010 and 2015. Since then it has become a term-by-term proposition through different charitable grants.
“We tell them we don’t train bullies. We train people to defend themselves and control themselves and to get fit,” he said.
“The kids love it.” Rackley says the club keeps subscriptions to a bare minimum.
Rackley is from NZ boxing royalty. He is the son of the late Les Rackley Snr, who died in June last year at the age of 92.
From the 1960s through to the late 1980s, Rackley Snr trained boxers to 55 New Zealand titles, 20 South Island titles and 50 or more provincial titles.
Among his prote´ge´s were his four sons — Jeff, Les Jr, Dean and Perry — who all went on to represent New Zealand.