60 children train per week in the IB youth club U59. The professionals teach more than just hitting technique and endurance.
Weißkirchen – Rhythmic tapping in the air. In between, snippets of conversation. A dozen young people wear the T-shirts with the print “Sportfreunde Oberursel“. Leather meets punching bag, muffled footsteps can be heard on soft mats, with concentrated breathing in between. Movement is the order of the day in the old Weißkirchen town hall. Energy, ambition and community mix with passion.
The U59 youth club has developed into a lively meeting place for young sports enthusiasts. Around 60 children and young people come here every week to box.
Facility manager Mahsa Zolfagharian from the IB (International Federation) Southwest calls the sports offering a real benefit for the youth club: “Sport helps children and young people to increase their mental resilience. This helps them learn impulse control, concentration and endurance and allows them to better cope with crises and stressful situations.” Zolfagharian is particularly pleased that children and young people of different ages come together. “Boxing is catching on,” she says and praises the trainers, Eldin Lugusic and Bruno Zuber. Both know their subject matter. The Oberursel boxing schools ABC Boxclub and Level Change MMA Gym also cooperate.
Ten-year-old Luke reports: “The movement is tiring and you have to concentrate.” Arnis (16) and Meraj (18) say: “Sport is good for your health. And boxing teaches you discipline.”
What is now a professional training room once began modestly in a room on the first floor. Eldin Lugusic redesigned and rebuilt the rooms with the young people. With a lot of personal effort, a fitness area was created one floor below. The sports room now also has punching bags and a training area lined with professional mats. Everything is equipped to a high standard thanks to donors, supporters and IB department manager Jörg-Helge Philipp.
Bruno Zuber has competition experience as a former Hesse champion. Lugusic has the A license in fitness, the C trainer in boxing, is a nutritionist and football C trainer. He is responsible for the sporting offerings in the U59 youth club and has a clear goal: “To strengthen, motivate and open up perspectives for young people.”
“That’s exactly what it’s about,” says Zolfagharian. Sport should be used as a path to more self-confidence, structure and inner strength. Boxing challenges the body and mind, trains responsiveness, coordination and stamina, but also respect, fairness and self-control. This can be crucial, especially for young people. In this way, energy can be directed sensibly, stress can be reduced, and limits can be recognized. The youth meeting provides an important framework. Here young people not only find training, but also a sense of belonging. They get to know each other, share interests, support each other.
Training takes place almost all week long: strength and endurance training is on the program on Mondays, boxing for advanced athletes and circuit training on Tuesdays. Beginners train on Thursdays and advanced athletes prepare for competitions on Fridays. And it’s even open on Sundays. “I have the key,” says Eldin Lugusic.
