'It’s in their blood': B.C.’s only Indigenous boxing team vows to keep punching despite loss of funding
Inside the ring, a team of Nanaimo boxers are finely tuned athletes looking to compete and win, but recently Team 700 took a punch that buckled their collective knees.
The 10-member youth boxing club is B.C.’s only all-Indigenous team.
“Everyone of these youth are warriors,” said head coach Ivy Richardson. “It’s in their blood.”
The inclusive squad allows different tribes and genders to skip, shadowbox and spar side-by-side, but the team recently lost a key member, its financial backer.
“I was notified June 30 and it was effective immediately,” said Richardson.
“Our rent was due the next day so it put us in a tough position,” she added. “So we are fundraising so we can stay together in the interim.”
Started in 2019, Team 700 is a youth boxing club aimed at keeping children focused on school while arming them with athletic abilities they may not get without a structured group.
“The goal is just to give are Indigenous youth a safe place to get the tools they need to navigate life,” Richardson told CTV News.
The modus operandi appears to be working.
As she wraps her hands in preparation of a sparring match, teenager Kiana Peters describes what the group means to her. “It means, like, happiness.”
Across the gym, heavy-hitting 21-year-old Trent Jack says the team is like a family as he slams his fists into a punching bag.
“It’s important for, I’d say, my well being,” he says. “It’s my passion.”
Team leadership doesn’t want to publicize who their former financial backer is. The pugilists do, however, need help to stay in the ring.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover their annual costs, which currently total around $40,000.
So far, the fundraiser has collected approximately $7,000.
Richardson is dismayed by the loss of funding, but is vowing to keep her eyes firmly on the future and team expansion.
Team 700 has been wildly popular among Vancouver Island First Nations youth and the team has a waiting list.
Richardson wants to expand her coaching team and get more ring time.
The head coach believes the team’s annual budget could soon top out near $75,000.
“We’ve started something really great and we aren’t going anywhere,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Democrat who ran on abortion rights flips seat in deeply conservative Alabama
Marilyn Lands, who campaigned on abortion rights in deeply conservative Alabama, won a special election to the Alabama Legislature, in a victory that Democrats say illustrates voter backlash to extreme reproductive restrictions imposed by Republicans.