Students fight for fun in boxing club
As most students at Utah State are fighting to get through each semester with good grades, USU’s boxing club members are learning how to become better fighters in the ring.
The boxing club began in spring 2023, making it one of the newer athletic clubs on campus. After being founded by former student Scott Swain, the reins were handed to the current club president, Gabe Aina.
Boxing might not be the most common sport for kids to grow up learning, but ever since Aina started in high school, his love for the sport has grown.
“I’ve been boxing for like six or seven years now. My dad boxed for the Air Force Academy, and he taught me when I was in high school. I’ve just been keeping it going ever since,” Aina said.
Aina said he loves to box because it allows him to exercise and take his mind off everything else going on in his life.
“It’s very good exercise. It’s an insane source of cardio. You just feel really good when you do it,” Aina said. “Students have crazy lives and being able to blow off steam and have a good community with the club is super important to a lot of us. Overall, it’s just fun to move your body in a way that feels fluid and strong.”
Aina said he has noticed the sport help him become better at other things outside of the ring.
“It instills a sense of discipline, like any martial arts. That kind of practice where you’re focusing on form, it translates into other things,” Aina said.
Gabe Aina talks to other students throw a drill in boxing club on March 8 in the ARC.
The club currently doesn’t compete in any competitions with other schools or clubs, but Aina says the goal of the club isn’t necessarily to host fights.
“We’d love to compete if we could, but there’s not really a college boxing scene in Utah, let alone Cache Valley, so unfortunately that’s not an option,” Aina said. “In boxing club, our primary goals are just to teach people techniques and share information and passion because it’s really good for self-defense and exercise. We want to just be an extra resource for college students.”
Although Aina has several years of experience, he says the skillset of members of the club varies greatly.
“Usually most people start with knowing nothing at all. But the more people show up, the better they get, which I’m glad happens. That’s what we want to see in our members,” Aina said.
Club member Gavin Winkler, a first-year student studying environmental science and sustainability, met Aina at a Super Smash Bros. tournament at the start of the last fall semester before accepting an invitation to join the club and start boxing. Despite not having any prior experience, Winkler decided to keep attending club practices.
“I needed a new way of working out. I usually weightlift, but this was something different and it was more challenging in a different way, so I kind of want to start doing both at the same time,” Winkler said.
The club also serves as an opportunity to meet new people and make friends. For a first-year student like Winkler, the community alone was enough reason to keep participating.
“I stayed because I wanted friends. I didn’t know anyone, and I just wanted the social interaction that came with it. I met some really great friends here,” Winkler said. “Then I actually started picking it up and I actually started liking it more, and that love for boxing kind of just grew.”
Because many students, like Winkler, have never boxed before, Aina says the club doesn’t require any equipment or charge any fees to its members.
“We’re focused on just extending our knowledge and our passion for boxing, and we’re not shaming anyone for not having any equipment or previous experience,” Aina said. “Just like a drawing club, or a chess club, or a hacky sack club, you don’t join them because you know everything. You join them because you are interested and want to get better.”
More information about the boxing club can be found online at my.usu.edu/groups/boxing-club/info.