Future of Our Boxing Program

Syracuse Friends of Boxing closed its doors, but we will continue with the mission....

1988 USA Boxing Olympic Team. (3 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze)

Tom Coulter single-handedly built the boxing program at the YMCA over the past 20 years.  He did this completely free of charge to keep youth off the streets and develop boxers. Many of us were part of Tom's program and he is responsible for the formation of Fight For Hearts.  It would be a shame for the program to go away, or transition into something it wasn’t intended on being. We will be carrying out Tom's mission and legacy in our new facility.

As most of you know by now, Tom Coulter has retired from coaching at the start of 2018.  With Tom's retirement, it was decided that Syracuse Friends of Boxing (SFOB) will shut down for good.  Tom Coulter may have retired from leading the boxing club, but is still actively participating in the community as part of Fight For Hearts, and even volunteers at certain events. Tom is also a director at Fight For Hearts, therefore it was decided to transfer all of the assets to us (all of the boxing equipment).

Since Tom's retirement, we began the discussion of what will happen with the weekday program at the YMCA.  We met with the YMCA staff and proposed a few different options to maintain the program; however an agreement could not be reached. At this point, the YMCA will own the boxing program and is in the process of hiring a head coach to carry out the program. We don't have any information on who the head coach will be or what the new program will look like, but currently it is in the state of transition. 

We will be removing all of the boxing equipment from the YMCA facility at the end of this month (September). In an effort to minimize the impact on the members, we will be leaving the boxing bags and enough gloves until the YMCA decides on the new setup and their own equipment. 

We apologize to the members for any inconvenience that these changes may have caused, but we will be opening our own facility in the near future and Tom will be involved in overseeing the boxing programs (but not nearly as much as he was). So please be patient with us, and we will be bringing something very special soon!

If anybody has any concerns and questions regarding the changes, feel free to contact us, or the YMCA.