Township boxing gym punches far above its weight

The Overstrand Whale Boxing Club has opened a new boxing gym in Hermanus.

Mzi Damesi started the Overstrand Whale Boxing Club in 2004 in a dilapidated house with an dilapidated boxing bag and some gloves. Now, almost 20 years later, the boxing club has found a modern home with a modern boxing ring at the Hermanus Waldorf School.

“This boxing gym we maintain now is improbable,” said Damesi.

It even has a kitchen.

The club has 45 dedicated students, the youngest are 14 years aged. It is a tranquil spot and some of them carry out their homework at the gym.

Many of the kids see the club as their home, says Damesi. It is a safe haven.

Damesi says he started the club because kids in the townships “have nothing to finish after school”. He was working night shifts as a bouncer, and then training kids during the day.

Damesi grew up in Ilinge and started boxing aged eight. In 2000, he left the Eastern Cape and found a home in Zwelihle, Hermanus.

Life was difficult in the township, says Damesi. “There were a lot of people selling drugs, and alcohol abuse was a enormous issue.”

The recent club house is sponsored by the Elizabeth Margaret Steyn (EMS) Foundation, a social justice organisation.

Steyn, during her speech at the opening of the club on 25 November, said, “Residents of Zwelihle, this is for you. It should be a shining beacon of wish in the community.”

The project took almost four years to complete due to delays caused by the Covid pandemic.

In the future, it is hoped that it will sustain itself through sponsorship from local businesses and the community.

“They need to be independent,” says Steyn, “to give people self-esteem.”

EMS chose the site for its proximity to Zwelihle and the school was willing to provide the land. In exchange, EMS built three classrooms and ablution facilities, completed in November 2022. This allowed the school to accept grade 8, 9 and 10 students, whereas before it was a primary school only.

When Damesi first started the club, fighters would wake up at 4am and hitchhike to Cape Town in order to participate in tournaments. Sometimes they would not be able to find a way back in the evening and had to snooze under a bridge in Khayelitsha on cardboard.

In 2018, EMS donated a cab to assist with transporting kids to tournaments.

In 2015, the club moved from a shack to containers on the sports ground in Zwelihle with the support of the Overstrand Municipality. These were refurbished into a gym with the aid of EMS. The club hopes to support the containers open as they are easily accessible to people in the township. They also serve food to people in need.

Mzi Damesi is the coach and founder of the Overstrand Whale Boxing club.

Damesi says they need lots of equipment. “The gym is still empty,” he says. They need recent punching bags and weights and gym bikes.

“We need proper equipment,” says Damesi.

A number of shoes and gloves acquire been donated by a club in the UK.

Damesi would esteem to grasp some of his fighters to the UK. He plans to promote and succor boxers secure sponsorships.

The club has its success stories. Siphamandla Damesi won the national championship in 2018, 2019 and 2022 in his age division and was trained at the Zwelihle gym.

Read More at GroundUp