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NEWSWIRE
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In desert town, a gym puts down roots |
By Brian Davidson, Managing Editor - 05.08.2008
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CAMP VERDE, Ariz. - For the past five years, Richard Williams has been moonlighting as a boxing coach in a sparsely populated desert town, where in the shadow of distant mountains and rising mesas, a swinging-door saloon might fit in better than a gym.
The 42-year-old Pepsi sales rep gets off of work, forks down his dinner, then heads to the Golden Cobra Gym (an old office he rents from a friend), where a dozen punching bags hang from the ceiling like a gang of captured outlaws from the Old West.
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"It's not much," he concedes, setting up a line he never grows tired of saying - you can almost hear him smiling. "But it produced a world champion."
Clifford Larson, his prize student from the nearby Apache reservation, became the first Native American to hold an International Kickboxing Federation world title in 2006.
Williams trains about 10 students in various martial arts during the week, then travels with them to weekend competitions, paying out of pocket or relying on local sponsors to cover the cost.
"I don't make any money doing this," he said. "I do it because I love martial arts."
But the long days - "I don't get home until 10 o'clock at night," he says - are beginning to wear on Williams. So, having coached his students to almost 30 championships, he says it's time to quit his day job.
"I want to be able to work on one thing, and this is what I love to do," he said. "I want to focus on reaching more kids, and producing more champions."
Next month, Williams is opening The Golden Cobra Center of Fitness in the basement of the Boys & Girls Club in nearby Cottonwood. The non-profit gym will focus mainly on martial arts, but will offer fitness and nutritional guidance, as well as drug and alcohol awareness programs.
"In this little community, we're going to be able to reach hundreds of kids," Williams said. "We'll be able to keep them off the streets and keep them healthy."
Boys & Girls Club director Chris Quasula is allowing Williams to use the former storage room if he handles the renovations and keeps it open to boys and girls from the club.
"[Williams] needed a place to get his program off the ground and I needed my basement redone, so it works out for everybody," Quasula said. "And I know it's going to be hugely popular with the kids. I've already started getting phone calls about it, so it's already bringing recognition to our club."
Williams solicited some local friends and contractors to renovate the space, and he's in the process of applying for non-profit status, which he hopes to have within the next six months.
Then, he says, he'll begin applying for grants and raising money through tax-deductible donations.
"Everything seems to be falling into place for me," he said. "Everything I'm doing right now feels like it's a blessing."
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