Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

How do you get kids off the streets or away from nonstop video games?

How do you get them to set goals and work to achieve them?

Well, for some kids and their parents, the answer lies in the age old sport of boxing.

Believe it or not.

Our own Grover Silcox recently had a ringside seat to watch how it all works, and he joins us now.

Grove, welcome.

Great to be here.

Thanks, Britt.

This seems like an awesome sport to get some exercise and away from those video games.

It was remarkable to watch the kids spar and train at showstoppers boxing Gym in Allentown.

The club's youth program includes kids ranging in age from kindergarten to a seniors in high school, and the kids are learning that boxing is more than just throwing punches.

It's really about mind, body and spirit.

Yeah, they have to learn to focus, strategize, problem solve, and persevere.

Grover.

It's all the things you really need in life to be successful.

Bingo.

David Hamilton, a former Philly fighter who sparred and trained with boxing champs and pros, founded Showstoppers Boxing Gym about 15 years ago.

David and his assistant coaches know the sport in and out and share it with the kids.

David and his trainers not only love the sport, they love the kids and refer to their club members as family.

They're not only training kids to be successful in the ring, but to be successful in life using all the qualities and skills it takes to go the distance.

Yes, they go to the body.

Go to the body.

These kids at Showstoppers Boxing Gym in Allentown spar with each other at least three nights a week.

They learn, train and practice the sport with guidance from seasoned coaches.

To come to the turkey company.

For these youngsters and their mentors.

Boxing is far more than a sport.

Boxing gives you a source of confidence.

You know what I mean?

It gives you, discipline.

It gives you hand eye coordination when things get tough.

It teaches you how to fight through it.

David Hamilton, the gym's founder and a former fighter who served as sparring partner for world champion Bernard Hopkins and other pro lives to share his love for boxing with others.

Champion.

All right.

I like change.

You know what I mean?

Is nothing like having somebody come in here with no athleticism, no skill.

You know, timid.

Shy.

You know what I mean?

And just having them do a serious transition from being peeking in to see if anybody watching to come in and saying, coach, are we sparring today?

You know, and it's a beautiful feeling, the beautiful feeling to watch the transition.

It's so good brother.

How you doing, man?

You chilling?

Taking it easy.

That's what's up.

The youth program includes children from 5 to 17 years old.

Currently, showstoppers lists about 50 students.

One thing that we talk about boxing.

And this is a privilege.

So therefore if you can't, you know, participate in school and you care.

You know, listen to the teacher and you kids, you know, go to school when you need to go to school.

You're not allowed to train at showstoppers.

We check with the family first.

And that's one of the first things we say to the family when they come in.

How are they?

Grades.

How are they doing in school?

Because this is like I said, this is a privilege.

The kids in the gym appear highly motivated, energized and engaged, according to Coach Hartman.

They come for all kinds of reasons.

We had a couple kids that came in that were being bullied.

So it's not like we teach them to go out and beat up with the bully.

We teach them how to protect themselves.

It gives you a form of confidence.

We fight, we fight, we fight, we fight, we fight, we fight.

To.

I wanted to take up boxing because I wanted to defend myself.

Keep out, keep punching.

Ten year old Nehemiah Mickle joined the gym for confidence.

But now he comes for the sheer fun of getting in the ring.

What I love about boxing is the most is getting in the ring.

It's exciting.

When you first coming in with no skill.

The first part is just to learn the game, get the vocabulary behind what are you doing?

So it's a jab.

It's a right hand.

It's a left hook.

It's uppercut.

We have him jumping a little rope.

You know, give them a little agility, athleticism, the back go up.

We get him to walk the line so they can have balance.

Pretty much keeping your feet apart.

Simulating the same things you would do in the ring.

You do it on the floor.

No, no.

Eight year old Adelina Falconi pulls no punches about her passion for boxing.

Joe.

Good.

Mostly, boys say when I tell them they don't think it's cool because they think that girls can do it.

But I think that girls can do anything they want to do.

They can become a boxer, a dancer, anything they want to do.

We got some good female athletes.

They come here and they dedicate themselves.

They fight the boys.

It's amazing.

Straight before these students learn the game, they learn the importance of protective boxing gear.

Make sure you have your mouthpiece in your mouth.

Okay?

You need some hand racks.

That's number one.

Protective, where we pretty much wrap your hands up to protect it.

When you put it inside the glove to give it a little bit more stability so you don't hurt your hand.

We give them a mouthpiece, and you give it a protective headgear.

Thomas TJ McMonigle, age 15, found it difficult concentrating in school and dealing with stress.

But boxing changed all that.

I used to suffer from anxiety tremendously.

I couldn't perform well in front of people, but I when you're in the ring and when you're sparring, it just takes away that mental block that you have and it helps you just have more courage.

TJ trains six days a week, at least two hours a day, and hopes to one day compete in the Golden Gloves of America Tournament, a national competition which awards winners a ring, a belt and the title of national champion.

Good stuff.

Oh, man, we got a couple national champions.

We had a couple pros here.

We are winners.

We win.

And that's because we prepare ourselves the right way.

We take a series and you know what I mean?

We we got some good coaches there that pretty much teaches these kids the right way.

Know.

Hey, hey, you didn't say no.

No, no.

Okay.

Everybody to the showstoppers teaches the right way to box and the right way to live with coaches.

They care, students they care.

And a group hug and a prayer at the close of every session to show thanks for all that they share.

When the prayers go up, the blessings come down.

And right now, we all in need of your blessing.

We say prayer together as a family and follow me.

We give you give praise.

We give thanks because we are truly blessed, truly blessed.

Showstoppers all day long.

Come get us.

Come join us.

We love everybody.

The camaraderie among the students, the trainers, the coaches and even the parents was absolutely incredible.

Grover, it seems like the kids really love this sport.

They really do.

And it actually builds their confidence and persistence and in some cases improves their grades.

So, Grove, how much does this cost?

It ranges from $80 to 120 a month depending on the package.

The student has.

But as David said, he really won't turn anyone down.

And there are scholarships available.

If a kid really is persistent and one wants to play the game and learn the game, he'll make sure that they get to join.

Grover.

It sounds like everybody wins at showstoppers.

That they do.

All right.

Grover Silcox, thank you so much for joining us.

That'll do it for this edition of living in the Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.