If he wasn’t using his fists in a gym, 16-year-old Abel Hernandez says he might be using them in the street.
Hernandez, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School, is one of many neighborhood teenagers who box and train at the Police Athletic League’s East Dallas Ferguson Road gymnasium. He says PAL has provided him with a healthy energy-release and more importantly – a dream.
He wants to make the Olympic team, and because of PAL, he has a shot.
From Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, Dallas PAL hosts the National Police Athletic League Boxing Tournament at Fair Park Coliseum. Boxers who win in each of the 12 weight divisions advance to the Olympic Trials. Hernandez will be fighting in the bantam-weight division.
“It’s a chance for kids to make the Olympics, no matter where they come from,” says Ben Nabors, a senior corporal who works in the PAL’s boxing program. “This is the only open tournament for Olympic-style boxing that’s open to anyone. You can literally walk in and if you win, make the Olympic trials.”
Participants between 16- and 32-years of age will come from around the country to compete in three-round bouts at the tournament. Three rings of boxing will be going everyday of the event, except Saturday, when the finals are scheduled.
If Hernandez makes it to Saturday and wins his division, he’ll go to the Olympic trials.
“That would be, oh man – incredible,” he says.
The boxing program is one of PAL’s many programs to provide children a positive, free way to spend their spare time. Three full-time police employees operate the administrative end of the League, but all other officers who participate do so voluntarily.
Most PAL participants are high-school students like Hernandez, Nabors says.
“I think the kids learn that if they work at it, they’ll succeed,” Nabors says. “Boxing is a sport where you just can’t go in and do it. You have to train. If you put the time and effort in, you can succeed, and we’re hoping they’ll apply that to life.”
Hernandez says PAL saves many lives from the streets.
“It’s a positive thing,” Hernandez says. “You can come here and box… [otherwise], you might end up in trouble, even dead.”
Tickets for the tournament are $5 general admission, $7 box seats. On the night of the finals, ringside seats will be available for $10. Each night, the tournament begins at 7 p.m. and should last until approximately 11:30 p.m.
For information about tickets or participating, call the Police Athletic League’s Ferguson gym at 328-8880. To find out about the other athletic programs the league offers, call 372-1725.
