Boxing Club is an official intramural club at Oak Park and River Forest High School after a two-year testing period. The club, led by OPRF teachers Anthony Clark and Kristin Carlson, meets twice a week from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the second-floor athletic hallway to practice boxing and sparring.
Freshman Logan Huang, who attended the first official meeting of the year on Sept. 11, said, “I only went once so far, but they taught a lot of boxing fundamentals.”
Jim Geovanes, director of Intramurals at OPRF, said, “Principal Lynda Parker partnered with Anthony Clark…and he took it and said, ‘I can roll it.’ So it was an unofficial club, and I took the opportunity to make it an intramural to get more kids involved.”
According to Clark, a typical practice includes warmups and coaching on new boxing skills followed by light sparring. “We will work our way up to advanced pad work and mid-level sparring, once all of our new equipment comes in and the students are ready mentally, as well as physically.”
While many students, such as Huang, are more experienced boxers, the club is open to interested students of all levels. Geovanes called this range of skill levels, “the beauty of intramurals.”
“Everyone there is very motivated to do better,” Huang added.
The co-sponsors of the club are dedicated to providing a safe and supportive environment to share their expertise.
For Clark, boxing is a deep-rooted passion tying back to his childhood. “A love for boxing was the primary way my father and I connected,” he said. Clark competed for many years in amateur events, even in the Chicago Golden Gloves (a famous competitive boxing organization).
Carlson, who is a health and physical education teacher at OPRF, also has a strong boxing history. “I competed for about six years and ranked as high as number three in the US. I fought a good fight and lost to Katie Taylor who is a big name in boxing right now,” she said.
Boxing is proven to improve confidence, coordination and overall mood, according to Cleveland Clinic. Through Boxing Club, OPRF students have the unique ability to reap those benefits and claim the new community that Clark and Carlson are forging. Through this group, Clark also wants to remind young boxers that, “You have to be a fighter if you want to be successful in life.”
