Main Street Boxing Gym makes winners & champions of life
SALISBURY, Md. – A premier boxing gym in Salisbury just finished its Golden Gloves season and came home winners and champions.
Coach Hal Chernoff tells WMDT what makes his gym different. ” We’re a real boxing gym that’s doing a real boxing job. It’s not about the money, it’s about the sport, it’s about them growing, and if it’s about the money, go to medical school.”
Established in 1993, Main Street Gym has served hundreds of kids and teens from across the Lower Shore, with the entire mission to build champions inside and outside of the ring.
MJ, trains with Coach Hal, and said he got into the sport to become more disciplined. “You’re going to have to flow with life, and it’s not just your story, you’re going to have to build off something, everyone starts from nowhere.”
That mindset is something Coach Ty Hargrove puts forth to his students. “I go out and look for them, because I feel like quitting is not an option, I feel like the world is hard enough, versus them having a mindset that if something gets too hard for them, I can just quit.”
Coach Ty uses his connections to seek out youth that might be experiencing issues at home, in school, or within the community. He says money is not a problem, when helping bridge the gap for youth who needs the support.
Coach Hal states that they work to make sure that regardless of financial struggles, the youth get the opportunity to grow.
“If you like being here, and can’t afford it, you come back in, we worry about the money another time. We’ve done that a number of times, there are a lot of our kids that are on scholarships.”
Also under the Main Street Boxing Gym Umbrella is Princess, who is boxing for protection.
“I want to learn how to protect myself when I’m out there, you never know what’s going to happen in life. So, you want to prepare for the future, which means come out and practice, and learn how to fight to protect yourself.”
Boxing is a sport that is all about giving punches and taking punches.
Another young boxer is Mike, who says the pain is temporary, but the glory is forever.”It depends if you get hit in the nose, it kind of hurts, but no not really.”
For Coach Ty and Coach Hal, the main goal is to build these champions through blood, sweat, and tears to make them productive in all aspects of life.
“What we have is a revolving door of greatness, so what I tell them, everyone here is a leader, and our goal is to bring that leadership out.”
