From a small basement, to a garage, and finally to a recouped old and larger building in Muscatine, the Muscatine County Boxing Club (MCBC) is not only boxing, it’s a family.
Walk into the MCBC and you’ll witness dedication, hard work, and everyone helping each other out. It’s always a team effort. You’ll witness an exceptional group of youth with motivation in their blood.
This group of young people is led by head coach, Santos Saucedo, a volunteer and founder of the MCBC. Coach Santos, as they call him, a former boxer, comes from humble beginnings and understands the importance of giving back to his community. He is a recent graduate of Ashford University with a degree in project management and is employed full-time with the Monsanto Company in Muscatine. Santos is not only raising his own family, he’s raising a boxing family at the MCBC.
Coach Santos and assistant coach Tomas Plaza, are keeping many at-risk youth off the streets and out of trouble through this non-profit organization. The club’s vision emphasizes this, “Making champions in life…, through the discipline of boxing by providing a healthy, diverse sports center for at-risk youth in Muscatine County, Iowa.”
For all these kids that attend the MCBC, they’re offered hope and opportunities to succeed in every aspect of their lives. They are all welcome, the troublemakers, good kids, at-risk kids and girls and boys.
These kids take-up boxing, but that is not the primary goal of the coaches. The primary goal is to give them something positive to do, something positive to focus on, and to provide them the foundation towards a positive future. As coach Santos states, “we teach our youth to only see success.” Through their extensive dedication, skills and efforts, the coaches have built a winning team with winning attitudes, a future legacy in Muscatine County and the youth boxing community. They have continuously won multiple trophies and medals in local and regional boxing competitions.
After joining the boxing club, members are to maintain good grades and behavior, as well as stay away from drugs. Having something to look forward to everyday and the support the youth receive from their coaches, good and positive behavior naturally develops in them.
In the end, it’s about the members and providing them with the motivation to want to succeed, now and in the future. It’s their home away from home. Coach Santos does everything possible to support the club through donations, fundraising, sponsorships, and support from the local community. Without this necessary support, the boxing club would be unable to continue and many Muscatine County youth would end-up back where they were previously, running the streets. There are no membership fees to join the club.
The MCBC is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is always accepting monetary donations, boxing equipment donations, and sponsorships. For more information about the boxing club, how to join, or how you can help, please contact Santos Saucedo at (563) 554-9202. The Muscatine County Boxing Club is located at 417 Grandview Avenue, Muscatine, Iowa.
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