Year 1: NCSU Collegiate Boxing Team

When I started boxing back in the '90s, one of the places where I learned the most was at the UC Berkeley boxing gym.  UC Berkeley has the longest continuously running collegiate boxing program in the US.  It started in 1916 which is an impressive feat.  Unfortunately, while I was attending UC Berkeley, the boxing program was not coed as women's boxing had just been allowed by USA Boxing.  But I was definitely welcomed there despite a lack of competitive opportunities and it is the place I attribute to really being able to hone my skills with the help of two fellow students, Raymond Joshua and Porfirio Garcia.  We had a beautiful gym and I met my first coach there Mr. Thomas who volunteered time there even though he wasn't affiliated with the college program.  After I graduated, they gave our beautiful gym space to gymnastics and put us in two squash courts.  It was a step down, but I am happy to report that I was able to start a women's team with 7 members and one of those members was able to compete with NCBA in the first ever women's collegiate match and then again for the nationals.

Fast forward to 2024 when I decided to start a collegiate program for North Carolina State University.  We had 6-7 students who were coming to our gym regularly and I felt that supporting them to compete in collegiate boxing would be a great opportunity for them. The students got on board  We had a member at our gym, Chris Osburn, who is a professor at NCSU and volunteered as our faculty advisor.  One of our most talented boxers, Razi Sayyed, and sophomore at NCSU agreed to be president and got the club enrolled as a student organization.  Several other students(Bailey Patterson, A.J. Beckmann, Logan Phillips and Max Baumgartner joined in to run bi-weekly classes at NCSU and run fundraisers for the team.  They also worked hard to prepare for the competition season.    We have had a wonderful first year that would have not been possible without the amazing efforts of the students both in and out of the ring.

I signed up the club to be a member of NCBA and what I remembered about the NCBA is that the military schools tended to dominate because they are well-funded and supported by their schools.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for many of the other universities and colleges.  There were no nearby NCBA shows for us to compete in during the season and I only felt comfortable sending Razi to the regional tournament due to the possibility of having to compete against someone who might have a lot more experience.  Everyone I dealt with at NCBA was great.  I was especially impressed with Nat Shineman who is the Midwest Regional Chair.  When I reached out with questions about entering students with limited experience, he responded promptly with thoughtful answers to help me make decisions about whether or not to enter my athletes in the regional tournament.  Then when one of my athletes asked about accommodations for the fact that he was fasting during Ramadan, he came up with reasonable and equitable accommodations.  My boxer was so happy, but unfortunately, we were not able to make it to the regional tournament.

However, what I did learn about was another collegiate organization, the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association or USIBA.  There was a fundraising show in Richmond, VA at the beginning of February, so we decided to register for it.  We got matches for all 5 of our boxers even though only 4 ended up fighting.  The venue was a bit strange with a lot of cigar smoke, but it was a great experience for our boxers.  We came away with 3 out of 4 wins and it was a great team bonding experience where our boxers got a sense of what it feels like to compete.  USIBA held their national tournament in Macon, Georgia which was a bit closer than the NCBA regional tournaments held in Ohio.
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We had 4 boxers compete in the USIBA National tournament that ran from March 27th-30th.  I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience.  USIBA made the decision to allow NCBA boxers to compete in their national tournament and had beginner, novice and open divisions which made a huge difference in terms of all of our boxers being able to compete.  There were 46 colleges and universities that competed with 230 boxers and 3 rings.  All 4 of my boxers had matches and although, not equitable to the men, there were a large number of female participants.  I was surprised to see teams as far away as USC and University of Washington bring large teams to the tournament.  It was an organized and well-run tournament

I was so proud of the boxers from NCSU.  Two of them fought hard even though they didn't get wins in their matches and then Max Baumgartner and A.J. Beckmann brought home National Titles.  It was more than I could have ever hoped for in our first year as a team.  Hopefully, we can keep the momentum up for next year and build on our successes.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was to meet Terri "The Boss" Moss who had 17 boxers compete from Georgia Tech.  I have always admired the work she is doing with her boxers and as a promoter.  It was nice to meet her in person.  After the tournament, I wandered around downttown Macon where everyone was wearing pink for the Cherry Blossom festival and even spotted a pink poodle.  I am excited to see where next year's tournament will be.