{"id":630956,"date":"2026-04-26T00:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T00:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/630956\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T00:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T00:15:16","slug":"indigenous-kids-training-for-life-in-and-out-of-the-ring-at-youth-development-camp-in-canberra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/630956\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous kids training for life in and out of the ring at youth development camp in Canberra"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a basement gym below a church in Canberra, a congregation of athletes has come together for worship of another kind.<\/p>\n

These First Nations kids have taken up boxing as a kind of religion, and an expression of their culture and identity.<\/p>\n

Boxers aged from 10 to 18 shuffle, duck, weave, throw crosses and jabs.<\/p>\n

The sound of glove against pad bounces off the walls and fills the gym.<\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Leeton is working the bag, wearing gold-coloured gloves and a look of determination.<\/p>\n

“I like that snap sound, especially with my right hand,” Leeton says.<\/p>\n

Leeton has travelled from Sydney for Cuz Boxing’s first Indigenous Development Camp.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Proud young Dunghutti men Jonas and Leeton are brothers, and sparring partners.\u00a0 (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

He’s attending with his older brother and sparring partner, Jonas, who is working with one of the coaches on punch combinations on the other side of the gym.<\/p>\n

“I grew up boxing with all my brothers and sisters,” Jonas says.<\/p>\n

“My dad’s always been around boxing with his brothers [too], so we’ve all been around boxing for a while.”<\/p>\n

The 15-year-old says his training has been “locked in” for the last couple of years \u2014 and it shows, his blue gloves are a blur as he strikes the pads.<\/p>\n

“Afterwards you feel great like you’ve accomplished something for that day,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You feel real fit, and then the next day you’ll go again.”<\/p>\n

‘It was only 5 degrees’<\/p>\n

The camp is designed to prepare the athletes to take part in an elite boxing program at a state or national level.<\/p>\n

“It’s been challenging \u2026 the running, the waking up [in the] morning at the Murrumbidgee River, but we’ve pushed through,” Jonas says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The “Granimals” meet on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River just outside Canberra to train. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Former Wallabies captain turned independent ACT senator David Pocock stepped them through his regular “Granimals” workout at the Murrumbidgee River.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t that bad, it was only like 5 degrees,” Leeton says.<\/p>\n

Cuz Boxing founder and Bundjalung man Joe Hedger says the camp is designed to build mental fortitude alongside physical conditioning.<\/p>\n

The fighter’s first exercise at the camp was public speaking rather than ringcraft.<\/p>\n

Ngunnawal Elder Auntie Violet Sheridan and Brumbies winger Andy Muirhead are among those who have mentored the group.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Cuz Boxing founder Joe Hedger’s family has a strong connection to the sport. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

“It’s not just the boxing, it’s seeing these young kids feel confident about themselves, watching their self-belief grow,” Joe says.<\/p>\n

“Self-belief, respect, discipline and control; those things are really important particularly for a lot of our young Aboriginal people.”Boxing, identity and culture\"A<\/p>\n

Joe’s father Alan Hedger was a professional fighter. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

There’s a through-line of Indigenous boxing spanning the last century, something felt keenly in the Cuz Boxing gym.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to bring [the athletes] together so they can connect around culture and understand the importance of the communities they come from and represent,” Joe says.<\/p>\n

Promotional posters from famous fights hang on the walls of the gym, as do portraits of First Nations professionals like Lional Rose, and Joe’s father, Alan Hedger.<\/p>\n

Joe’s son Miles Hedger has continued the family tradition, himself now a competitive fighter who trains at the gym.<\/p>\n

As a NSW King of the Ring champion, 19-year-old Miles had earned his “big brother” status at the camp.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Miles Hedger represents the ACT in boxing, and has mentored the younger athletes at the camp. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

“I think a lot of Indigenous kids feel disconnected, whether it’s with each other or they feel disconnected to their culture or their community,” the proud young Bundjalung man says.<\/p>\n

“The theme of the camp and the main priority is building a sense of community, bettering [everyone] in the ring, but outside the ring as well.”<\/p>\n

The noise of the glove and pad work dies down now as the session moves to the ring, but not to spar or fight.<\/p>\n

Instead, a one-on-one agility drill with the aim to tap an opponent on the knee or shoulder.<\/p>\n

The kids watch one another compete, rotating in and out of the ring after three taps.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Maleek and his little sister Latoya work on an agility drill in the ring. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

Proud young Bundjalung man Maleek faces off against Latoya, one of his three younger sisters who have also come to the camp.<\/p>\n

Laughter and cheers erupt as Latoya, five years younger and 30 centimetres shorter than 15-year-old Maleek, taps him on the knee sending him out of the ring.<\/p>\n

Maleek says the camp has been hard work, but he’s learned a lot, especially on his right hook.<\/p>\n

“I left footy for boxing because boxing is just better,” he says.<\/p>\n

“It gives me confidence, strength, fitness \u2014 and it just feels so good.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a basement gym below a church in Canberra, a congregation of athletes has come together for worship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12365,2666,64,63,802,20871,2667,5214,41076,305723,16553,4398,14149,9967,2289,2668,85,9963],"class_list":{"0":"post-630956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-aboriginal","9":"tag-act","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-boxing","13":"tag-camp","14":"tag-canberra","15":"tag-community","16":"tag-cultural","17":"tag-cuz-boxing","18":"tag-development","19":"tag-first-nations","20":"tag-gym","21":"tag-indigenous","22":"tag-local-news","23":"tag-local-stories","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-youth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}