CLUB GOES BEYOND BOXING
Officer helps youths learn discipline, self-empowerment
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Walking into the Des Moines Police Boxing Club feels like stepping into a pugilism-themed snow globe that’s been shaken up and left upside down.
The small gym is abuzz with the thud of landing blows and the ear-splitting beeps of the countdown clock keeping time. One group of students in the back completes calisthenics circuits while a pair punch bags nearby. By the ring, a coach teaches a student the finer art of shadowboxing as he watches a handful of other kids prep their gloves.
But what may seem like chaos is controlled under the watchful eye of Senior Police Officer John Saunders.
“I expect more from these kids than what they expect of themselves,” said Saunders, 52. “I’m pretty demanding, so if these kids can deal with me, they can definitely deal with what they face out beyond these walls.”
Founded in 2008, the club has a goal to “keep kids off the street,” said Saunders, who has been in charge since the founding. The club is free for kids ages 10-18 who aren’t gang-affiliated and haven’t been in the juvenile justice system.
“We have someone from every ethnic group,” Saunders said. “What race you are, what gender, what religion, it matters not. I want everyone who comes in here to feel like they are part of our family.”
For Saunders, who isn’t married and doesn’t have children, these kids his family, he stressed.
“The club was founded to give kids an alternative to running the neighborhood and to keep their minds occupied, but, to me, it goes way beyond that,” he said. “I check on their grades. If they get into trouble, I go follow up and see what’s going on.”
He paused: “I try to be more than their boxing coach.”
While club members can participate in amateur fights, Saunders’ goal is simpler: He wants his students to graduate from high school.
“I don’t care what they decide to do; I just want them to be successful,” he said. “And I think the boxing club can help give them the discipline and the drive to do just that.”