Craig Jones: How BoxClever is fighting a stigma
With over 1,000 young people taking part in boxing sessions since BoxClever’s formation, the club is helping those with neurological differences to be active while letting off steam at the same time.
Craig Jones has worked with young people both in the education system and in the West Midlands community since graduating from university in 2011, with the aim of providing them with better opportunities and social spaces.
It’s a motivation that hits close to home for Craig, whose sister has learning difficulties, and in aspiring to give back to people like her in the Dudley area, he decided to go down the boxing route.
Last year the club hosted a tournament to celebrate the young people it had been working with, to showcase their skills and prove to the world what they are capable of.
“Since we started the sessions, I had always had a thought at the back of my mind,” said Craig in an exclusive interview with Spautism. “If these sessions are successful, can we give them the opportunity to take part in a boxing show?
“We’re fortunate enough that the kids and young people who we work with were really willing; they were buzzing to be a part of something like that, along with the support from the parents and carers as well, because that’s just as important.
“From my perspective, the showcase was challenging because I was just so in it and focused on the organisational stuff, getting from A to B. It was hard for me to stand still and take stock of what was going on.
“But the feedback was fantastic from it, and all I’ll say is our young people loved it, which is essentially why we did it:to give them an opportunity to do something that they wouldn’t usually do.
“A lot of our coaching staff have done it before, and we know what we’ve got from events like that, so we wanted to give that back to them.
“I don’t think there’s one video I’ve seen where one of our young people isn’t smiling, so I think that tells its own story.
“So, for me, that was what I judged success by. If the young people have enjoyed it, it’s a successful show.”
Since its success, those involved with the show have taken massive steps in both their confidence and boxing ability, which has been celebrated by their parents and people across the nation. The club has been recognised in the mainstream media, and continues to be a triumph in the community.
“We’ve had some brilliant feedback from parents. We had a mum on the night say, ‘I’ve got my son back,’ because of the confidence it’s given him.
“This was somebody who didn’t want to be involved in the showcase originally; he was a little bit concerned about the noise and everyone looking at him. And now he’s posing for photos, and he’s getting in the ring with big smiles and his fists up like he’s the boxer to come and watch.
“We’ve got a couple of lads who are quiet; they’re not nonverbal, but they’re very, very quiet. One of them, in particular, was nonverbal until quite a late age, and it’s the first time that they’re asking to go somewhere other than school.
“It’s the first time they’re asking, ‘Boxing tonight?’
“It’s the want, the will, and the confidence to say, ‘I’m involved in this team environment,’ because that’s what it is.”
For the youngsters involved, there are a lot of differences in how they learn and improve their skills, so one of the crucial parts of the club is making sure the sessions are comfortable for all.
Craig explained: “We’ve got young people with autism, with ADHD, learning delays, cerebral palsy, as well as Down Syndrome, too, and it’s just about making it accessible and stripping it all the way back.
“When we started the sessions, we were a little bit guilty of saying, ‘Let’s not do certain things,’ because you think, ‘I’m not sure they’ll be able to do it,’ whereas now we focus more on their ability rather than the disability. And we’re saying we’ll give it a go.
“And if they can’t do it, we’ll adapt it. We’ll be a little bit more flexible to their needs.
“It’s about making it adaptable for everyone who comes in because if you think about the young people we’re working with, they have a range of needs. So, it’s just about being adaptable as coaches and making sure everybody’s needs are met, and enjoyment at the end of it is the main part.”
Being adaptable is enabling Craig and his other coaches to develop tools that are helping them in a wide variety of environments.
“I’ve learned stuff here that’s applicable in other coaching and maybe even in everyday life. The big one is not putting barriers or a ceiling on what’s going to be achieved.
“You might start a session thinking, ‘We want this to happen today,’ and that’s all we want to happen, but if we hit that early on and we’re surprised by that, we think actually, let’s smash that ceiling, let’s go to the next level, and that’s the big one in terms of the coaching techniques.
“We had a young person who got quite overly stimulated in one of the sessions when we went to visit at a local boxing gym; there was just a lot going on, and the young person in particular got very uncomfortable.
“Although it’s horrible to say, it was good for the parents who were there and for the other staff to see because of the way we dealt with it in terms of getting on one knee and getting to his level, keeping everything calm and trying to stop the outside noise, because these things are going to happen during sessions and it’s about how you can adapt.”
Moving forward, Craig has aspirations of repeating the showcase success and providing even more opportunities for more young people.
“We’re quite fortunate that we’ve been granted some further funding.
“Since the show, everyone’s been saying, ‘When’s the next one?’ And I’ve not really given anything away in terms of whether we are going to do it again. We want to do it again. But it was that big a success that I think it’s inevitable that we will do another show – it’s just about seeing where we can go with it.
“There’s a big need for this population who are underrepresented in sports, and if we can have more sessions in different areas, or maybe have more than one show a year, that would be fantastic as well.
“Essentially then, we’re giving more opportunities to more young people.”
