Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

It was great to see that the local DARE Fight for Youth was an outstanding success last Friday night.

Nearly 1000 people attended the event at Baypark, with $40,000 raised to assist the Te Aranui Youth Trust with their good work with local youth.

Sideline Sid has met few more enthusiastic event organisers than Wendy Nicholls, who gave her heart and soul to raising funds for the trust. While knowing little about boxing when she first got involved, Wendy never stopped over the several months of the lead-up to the night.

Testament to her hard work was the outstanding amount of money raised on the night with every cent going towards disadvantaged local youth.

Wendy's statement that 'Te Aranui Youth Trust builds courage and resilience in these young people so that they can break the cycle and follow a more positive path. In developing self-awareness and leadership potential, our youth begin to thrive”, tells the story in a nutshell of what the Te Aranui Trust is all about.

Corporate boxing as displayed at Baypark last weekend is the new face of the sport in New Zealand.

Taking absolute novices from scratch through a structured boxing and fitness program has the dual rewards of raising money for charity and also providing the participants with numerous health benefits.

With many corporate boxers having fallen off the exercise treadmill, the introduction to the rigors of boxing training comes as a rude shock to the aspiring boxers.

After the first couple of sessions they quickly get into the groove of regular training. The next shock comes when the gloves go on in combat for the first time in sparring sessions.

However, on the night any nerves and butterflies quickly disappear once the two aspiring pugilists engage in combat.

No matter which way the decision goes - the two participants are forever joined by a bond of battle in the ring together, with some going on to become lifelong friends.

Putting on boxing shows is not for the faint hearted. There have been many would-be boxing promoters over the years that have believed that a boxing tournament is a licence to print money, before finding the grim reality that promoting boxing is extremely hard work, with often little reward at the end.

Two flash harry Australians who came to town a few years ago to put on in their words 'A boxing tournament like Tauranga has never seen before” left town with their tale between their legs, after dropping a large amount of money.

The Aussies made the classic mistake of not knowing the market and trying to put on a headline act of two boxers that no one (in Tauranga) had ever heard of.

The success to last weekend's DARE Fight for Youth was that all the participants were local people who believed in the cause. Each and every boxer on the night had a large band of supporters to cheer them on, with winning and losing secondary to raising funds for the local community.

My congratulations are extended to all the boxers who put their courage on the line at Baypark and Wendy and her team, who worked so hard to raise money that will give some Western Bay youth a chance to find a better future.

Seeya at the Game.