(JAN 18)  CARRICK– It may be have been a dreary night of rain this evening in Pittsburgh; but, here, in Carrick, at the corner of Brownsville Road and Maytide Street, the Carrick Community Boxing Academy was busy with a flurry of activity, with sparring and other regular interval training, in preparation for the area’s biggest open amateur boxing tournament of the year, sponsored by the Allegheny Mountain Association, in cooperation with USA Boxing®, the main sanctioning body for amateur boxing.

As head coach and former boxer Jim Gruber told me, his boys were preparing to be heavily involved, as the under card of boxers for the main events of the upcoming tournament, starting this coming Friday, which will be hosted by The Radisson Hotel, in nearby Greentree.

The open tournament serves as an advancing tournament for the best amateur boxers from Western Pennsylvania to reach the Regional tournament competition, and then, onto National tournament competition.

Among the many adults that were present on this evening to supervise and instruct these young amateur boxers, to my surprise, there was former amateur and local pro woman boxer, Leslee ‘Long Play’ Perella, giving back to the community that gave her so much. Perella also serves as an official, at times, for local amateur boxing events.

If it hasn’t been said before, it needs to be said now – that this boxing gym, Carrick Community Boxing Academy, which serves the bordering communities of Baldwin, Brentwood, and Whitehall, as well as Carrick, is an oasis to all those that wish to not get caught in the desert of trouble, with drugs being so prevalent in today’s culture.

Many kudos and thanks to Jim Gruber and his friendly staff for their time and patience in assisting me with my questions for this article. (Inset photo: Perella)