'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
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.