“A Boxing Program Where Life Is The Main Event”
Ring Magazine
“The Bible of Boxing” 1995

Is dedicated to creating champions in the ring, but first and foremost, “Champions of Life!” This world class amateur boxing program fortified by a comprehensive youth development curriculum and staff is committed to working with males and females ages 8-18 every Monday – Wednesday – Friday, 6-8 p.m. and Saturday’s 11-1pm. Competitions, travel and sparring are year round, and not a mandate to be a valued member of the program. “Champion’s of Life Boxing” will strive to impart in its members:

• Holistic Personal Development: personal investment, positive self-esteem, strong character, the value of education & pro-social behavior
• Life Skills Education in: drug, alcohol & gang prevention, healthy decision making, leadership, being goal orientated & community minded and developing educational talents
• State of the Art Foundation in: physical fitness, nutrition & wellness, aerobic and anaerobic fitness and Olympic boxing skills

All members will benefit from our P.R.I.D.E positive reinforcement points program, receive apparel, equipment and staff will be available to partner with parents on all child & adolescent development issues!

To enroll your son or daughter call:

Lion’s Den GM Chris Lombardi @ 860-613-2394,

or

“Coach” Johnny Callas, Charter Oak Boxing Academy Executive Director and “Champion’s of Life Boxing” Head Coach

(860-918-2844, e-mail JohnnyCoachCallasChampionsofLife@comcast.net )

(Scholarships available to those who qualify)
 

Connecticut Silver Gloves Champion David James, 11 years old, won a decision in the finals over New York City Champion Brian O’ Shea of Yonkers to capture the Region One Silver Gloves 85 pound Championship this past weekend in Oneonta, New York.

James now advances to the National Silver Gloves tournament that will be held the first week of February in Independence, Missouri. With the victory, David James becomes the first Lions Den trained boxer to qualify for a national tournament.

James is a 6th grader and attends Noah Webster Elementary School in Hartford. He trains daily at Doug Cartelli’s Lions Den Training Center in Middletown under the guidance of his coach, Johnny Callas. As a member of the Lions Den’s “Champions of Life” program headed up by Callas, David James has compiled an amateur record to date of 16 wins against only 4 losses.

LION’S DEN “CHAMPIONS OF LIFE” BOXING TEAM MEMBER PROVES TO BE A TRUE

“CHAMPION OF LIFE”

Rell Appoints Hartford Teen to DCF Council

Posted on 16 August 2010 by The Hartford Guardian
Council Poised To Receive Much Needed Insight From Teen
By Ann-Marie Adams, Staff Writer
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HARTFORD — Homeless and penniless, 19-year-old Munique Reid needed a solution.

So in December 2009, she called the Department of Children and Families and applied for its re-entry program for teens who exited foster care but have difficulties coping with some of life’s harsh realities.

After almost a year in foster care, Reid yearned for her homeland Jamaica, where she was born and raised until she left in 2007. DCF workers denied her request because “it wasn’t like she wanted to go to New Haven,” one official said.

According to policies, DFC must inspect a home before a child returns. This case was different. Just as DCF officials were contemplating where her next foster home would be, Reid quit. She packed her bags and flew to Jamaica.

“I had been through so much in such a short time. New country. New people. I felt this void that I had to fill,” Reid said as tears welled her eyes. She explained her yearning to make her mother proud: to be the first to go to college. “I knew I had a loving family back in Jamaica.”

Her mother wanted a better future for her, though, and again sent her to be with the only relative here in the United States, her father. When Reid returned to America, she had nowhere to go because her father was not at the airport to meet her. Since her arrival in 2007, Reid felt she was “living in hell.” In 2008 while a student at East Hartford High, she was almost beaten senseless with a shovel. That’s when DCF removed her from her father’s house and placed her in a foster home.

She tries not to think of that “period of hell.” Now in her own apartment in Hartford, she thinks about the possibilities with her new-found position in Gov. Jodi Rell’s administration. On Friday, Rell appointed Reid to the State Advisory Council for Department of Children and Families. The council reviews policies and recommends programs and legislation aimed at improving services for children and families.

Though she had experienced culture shock and parental abuse, Reid was still committed to helping others. Volunteer work, she said, kept her mind away from her reality at her father’s house.

“Munique is driven to help others and to improve the quality of life for children in Connecticut,” Rell said in a release Friday. “Her communication and organization skills will make her an asset to this panel. I commend her on her willingness to serve the State of Connecticut and to help us make our communities stronger.”

Her community service has been duly noted. While at East Hartford High, Reid served as a teacher’s aide for Our Piece of the Pie, a not for profit agency providing childcare, elderly employment and economic development to Harford residents. She also tutored for the Grade Six Achievement Test for RISE, (Reaching Individuals Through Service and Education.) She said her experience will help inform how best the DCF can serve teens like her in foster care.

The person who nominated her agreed.

“She doesn’t whine. She gives constructive criticism, and she’s mature. So I feel she’ll be a very big help on the panel,” said Robert Backus, a DCF supervisor in the New Britian office. “She can articulate what needs to be done in the program to help many other children.”

Backus recalls the moment he thought Reid would be a big help. He mentioned something about client folders. And Reid responded:

“That’s just it, you’re all seeing us as folders on a shelf. Why don’t you try seeing us as people first before you try treating us.”

It’s that unique perspective that will help the Rell administration improve the DCF.

Reid will serve until June 30, 2011. And she is overjoyed.

“This is what I should be doing now,” she said. Her broad smile lit up her face and belied the volatility of the past two years. “I know there was a reason for me to be here.”

[View with PicLens]

Aiyana Callas with training partner David James after an event

She hardly looks like a boxer. Standing just under five feet tall and every bit her father’s little girl, 12 year old Aiyana Callas isn’t what one thinks of when they think of a boxer.
“She so beautiful and such a ‘girl’ that it’s hard for anyone to imagine her boxing,” said her coach and father, Johnny Callas. “I’ve been training kids for twenty years, and know that boxing at this level is safer then soccer. That aside – she’s good. And that’s me talking as her coach, not father.
“Though I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t get a little nervous before her bouts. I am her father after all.”
At 2-0, Aiyana is always a crowd favorite.
“When she won at an annual outdoor show in the Bronx, people just flocked to her as she left the ring. One guy even gave her a brand new cell phone. She was an instant star,” said coach Callas.
Watching her train with the Champion’s of Life youth boxing team at the Lion’s Den Training Center in Middletown, it was easy to see that she has been well trained.
Her hands are always held high, her footwork is smooth, side to side, and the jab is always pumping, keeping the stronger boys at arm’s length.
“We occasionally get girls here, but I’m the only girl who competes, so I mainly spar with the boys,” Aiyana said. “I’m used to it though. It’s good practice.”
And how do the boys deal with the “pretty” girl who can box?
“She’s not like a girl when she’s in there boxing,” said 9 year old David James. “At first you want to go easy on her, but once you see how good she is you can’t. I don’t have a problem hitting her now,” he said with a big smile.
The truth of the matter is their training is safe, effective and fun.
“They learn the difficult art of life skills,” said coach Callas. “That’s what we teach here. The glory of competing and winning is just an extra perk. Getting up there and boxing in front of 200 people is the equivalent to participating in a team sport in front of 10,000 (people). I’m very proud of all these kids. They are all Champions.”