PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The first rule of Valley Forge High School’s Boxing Club is, well…

“That there’s no such thing as a boxing club,” joked social studies teacher Tim Vojta, who as one of its two coaches leading the club sport knows firsthand that’s not true at all. Three times a week for the past 21 years after the last school bell rings, Valley Forge High School students looking to blow off some steam or get a workout in have laced up the gloves and punched their peers or hit the speed bag. “We started this as an outlet for kids after school,” said Vojta, who started boxing in 1995 at the Pinzone/Parma Boxing Club. “Not everybody had the schedule that would allow them to do other sports. Then sometimes grades become an issue because you have to be academically eligible to play a varsity sport.

“Since I have a little bit of a boxing background and so does the other coach (Valley Forge High School social studies teacher Paul Spooner), we approached our administrators, who were cool enough to let us give it a try. It’s been successful ever since.” The objective of this club, which meets in the auxiliary gym, is to provide a safe and organized forum to learn. Take for instance Boxing Club member Trent Booker, a junior at Valley Forge High School.

“I joined the Boxing Club because I always had an interest in fighting and a couple of friends recommended it to me,” he said.

“Boxing is not only a place where I can focus and clear my mind, you also get a great workout. It’s a cool place to have fun. Boxing also taught me discipline and respect.”

Students from both Valley Forge and Normandy high schools can train just for fun and fitness or choose to spar and potentially compete.

For years, the latter included Valley Forge High School students participating in the Northeast Ohio Golden Gloves tournament with Vojta noting the Boxing Club had 13 winners.However, these days the Patriot fighters have been partnering up with St. Xavier High School Boxing Club with its members for the second year in a row coming up from Cincinnati to spar with the Parma Heights students.“We match kids up based on age and experience level,” he said. Speaking of which, you know what they say about books and covers. The same apparently applies to students going out for the school’s Boxing Club. “It’s so difficult to tell who’s going to be awesome at boxing at the beginning of the year because you have guys who are physical specimens but the actual physical contact and dedication you need, it’s just not there,” he said. “Then other kids, they look a little soft, a little pudgy. They don’t look athletic but, man, the thing they can do is box. They’re just tough kids and they’re coachable. It’s always a really interesting surprise to see who pans out year to year.”

Furthering that thought, the makeup of annual Boxing Club members, which is usually in the 25-student range, varies per year. Vojta said there have been at times more girls than guys in the club, as well as more AP and honors students than one would expect in a pugilistic sport demanding speed, toughness and physical prowess.

“Other years, we’ve had a lot of real tough blue-collar kids who want to box,” he said. “It’s a different group every year that keeps it really interesting.”

Read more news from the Parma Sun Post here.