At Your job:
Boxing coach

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on June 11, 2007

NAME: Shawn Darling
AGE: 36
HOMETOWN: Lacey
EDUCATION: Studied exercise science and nutrition at Ocean County College and Gloucester Community College .
OCCUPATION: Owner of Gladiator Boxing in Lacey and an Atlantic County corrections officer.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?: I started off as an amateur boxer myself. I fought in "Tough Man" tournaments in Delaware , Philadelphia and New York City , and three of the fights were televised. I did that through my late 20s to early 30s, until I started coaching.
I was asked to coach at the police academy, where my full-time job is. Once I was coaching there, some Lacey police officers heard that I coached and they asked me to coach their children. Before I knew it, I had about 10 children and adults out of my garage.
I wanted to take the liability out of my house after four to five months, so I decided to give it a shot and open a small gym. I've moved three times since then, because the membership kept growing. When I moved out of the garage, I moved to a small spot, then three months later to a bigger spot and then three months after that to my current location, which is a really good-size boxing gym. In four years I am going to retire and work the gym full time.
Our current facility is 2,300 square feet. We have a 22-foot professional boxing ring, about 10 heavy bags, three double-end bags, seven speed bags, an uppercut bag and a weight room with free weights, weight machines and cardiovascular equipment.
SALARY: I collect monthly dues from members, and amounts vary depending on the membership. But I also make money from promoting amateur boxing shows every other month, which is a good amount of money, and also from personal training. We also have our own clothing line, and sell clothing and other items, stickers, magnets, Gladiator everything. Working with professional boxers helps supplement my income too, because I get a percentage of what they make. I have all different amounts coming in every week and each month it varies.
WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY LIKE? We come in and warm up together. We jump rope, shadowbox, stretch, do calisthenics, sprints and then we start the boxing program. We go over offense, defense, different strategies, footwork and counterpunching.
(The clientele is) a pretty good mix. I just started a new kindergarten-through-fourth-grade class, and I also started a new cardio kickbox class, and that is all adults, both men and women, with the average age being 30s to 40s. I have two boxing classes and the first one is for children, and the other one is for teens to adults. I go as low as five and as high as 45 to 50. The professional boxers I've worked with are John Brown, and my new guy is Bill Holley.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE JOB?: I love it. The thing I really like about it is helping people achieve their goals, whether it's to help people lose weight and get in shape, or teach them self defense so they wont be picked on by bullies, or for the group who want to compete in boxing, to help them achieve their goals as a Golden Gloves boxing champ. Whatever their goal is, I just want to help them achieve it. I tell them, "I want you to give me 100 percent effort, and in return my staff will give you 100 percent effort back."
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT THIS JOB?: The only thing is, sometimes when I am working the mitts, sometimes people miss and punch me. I sit every once in a while.
HOW DO YOU ADVERTISE? It's mostly word of mouth. I enjoy speaking in different schools in the area to promote the gym. I just spoke at all three elementary schools in Lacey. I try telling them about the importance of nutrition and respect, for your coach, yourself, your parents. We do a lot more than just boxing at the gym.
SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET INTO THIS LINE OF WORK: To be a boxer, find a good gym with people who know what they're doing and a healthy environment. We promote a good, safe environment, and me and my staff are certified trainers, and that's what you want to look for.
In addition to boxing, we teach a healthy lifestyle, to be drug- and alcohol-free. We don't promote violence, we just promote the sport.
To open a gym, location is important, building up a clientele is important. I wouldn't have thought about opening the gym before retirement, but it just kind of snowballed out of my garage. I built up my clientele about of the house before I moved out, so it wasn't too much of a gamble.