At the end of a long, frustrating day, many college students watch TV, listen to music, browse the Internet or get together with friends to hang out, eat or just talk. But freshman Jamal Gipson has found another way to vent – he boxes.
Gipson, a sports management major, heads to Fredrick Whitaker’s gym at 1137 Tower St. “The gym allows me to stay in shape, and I love the competition,” Gipson said. “It (also) allows me to let off frustrations from a long day of classes and professors.”
The gym is run by Coach Fredrick Whitaker, who uses the gym for a program he founded known as Y.E.S. (Youth, Educated, Successful).
“Jamal has a lot of potential and he works hard,” Whitaker said. “There’s a lot that could be learned by watching Jamal. He has been at the gym for about a year now.” Y.E.S., a character-building program in which participants learn discipline and get help with problems or goal setting, is open to all ages, even those people whose purpose may not be boxing, Whitaker said. “Mr. Whitaker is like a father figure,” 12-year-old Mustpha Pack said. “He teaches me I can do anything through repetition and hard work.”
Thomas McEachim, age 14, echoed Pack’s comments. “It’s like a big family and we get to travel together.”
As for Gipson, he said he would like to continue boxing and possibly compete. “The degree is most important, but I would like to stay amateur with a couple of professional fights–maybe,” he said.
For more information on the Y.E.S program call 336-771-6277.