Sometimes sports aren’t just about winning. In Hartford, the Charter Oak Boxing Academy is teaching kids to dream.
Charter Oak Boxing Academy is the intersection of boxing and education in Hartford.
The boxing program provides a place for kids to channel their energy, but also receiving mentorship from community advocates.
“Our whole goal here is to keep our kids alive, off drugs, out of gangs, in schools, moving forward to some sort of post-secondary education,” Coach Johnny Callas said.
Callas is the founder and executive director of the academy. He said boxing is used to reel the kids in, but that the real work beings once the gloves come off.
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“They come from neighborhoods where some of them are truly at high risk,” Director of Higher Learning Pamela Cranford said. “But they’re really special, because they’re hungry for education and opportunities.”
High school senior Elian Delgado is one of the many kids to benefit from the program and he said it feels like a family.
“It makes me feel like I’m not alone,” he said. “I get to, you know, release a lot of energy. It’s negative energy as well.”
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He said he could see himself being a professional boxer and business owner.
Adrian Santiago, 16, also has a dream. He said he wants to continue boxing in college.
“I think boxing gives you like a really good mindset of life,” Santiago said.
And the sport has provided him with new opportunities. This summer, he’ll represent Team USA in Ireland in a boxing exchange program.
“This has helped him give him a lot more discipline,” his mother Johanny Santiago said. “A lot more focus and it shows him that he has to work.”
Delgado's mom agrees and said she’s glad her son has a community to fall back on.
“I didn’t have that growing up,” Catiria Delgado said. “To know that he can come to a place and interact with a variety, a diverse group of kids, that means a lot.”
