AGAWAM – The Agawam Community Center will soon offer teens in town a new activity to participate in.

Vak Chonmany, who founded Agawam Muay Thai and USA Boxing and serves as the director of the center, told Reminder Publishing he will be the instructor of the center’s newest boxing program.

Chonmany said he wanted to start a boxing program at the center because “there wasn’t a lot out there for kids.”

“There’s not a lot of diversity for kids other than run-of-the-mill sports. We don’t have anything different than that,” he said. “It’s not about boxing, it’s about giving kids different ideas, a different sport.”

Chonmany grew up in Springfield and “we never had anything like this at all,” referring to the boxing program. He said he’s gotten “a lot of feedback,” not just from Agawam community members, but people from surrounding cities and towns such as Southwick, Holyoke, West Springfield, Suffield and Enfield. The program, once started, will be open to kids 13 to 19-years-old. He said he only takes teenagers because of their “maturity level and understanding.”

The program will serve children in the communities in a variety of ways. In addition to boxing being an “individual sport [that] tailors to kids,” he said it also “promotes something healthy, keeps them in a positive role and helps them move forward.” Chonmany said he also wants to give program participants a safe place to go and a way to protect themselves in today’s society.

“My kids will know how to protect themselves,” he said. In turn, Chonmany said teaching the children boxing skills will help reduce crime in their communities as they gain the “independence and confidence to be safe in their neighborhood.”

He said the group will meet once a week at the Agawam Community Center on Tuesdays, but if the program “gets too many people, we’ll meet two times a week.” He said he’s “willing to invest the time and will extend the program out,” if the interest is there.

In order for kids to be accepted and stay in the group, Chonmany said they will have to sign a contract and “make a pledge not to be involved in illegal crime or drug use, maintain good grades and attendance [in the program] counts.”

The program will have a fee of $50, and Chonmany said he is working with local businesses to become sponsors. So far, he said he’s had one sponsor, a Southwick resident named John McCarthy. At the time of press, the program was slated to begin in April and go through May. He added that it was important to him that parents be involved as well.

While he said the program will have a “learning curve,” Chonmany said “it’s a great opportunity.”

“Boxing is a great choice right now, you can’t go wrong with it because there’s always an interest in it,” he said.

The Agawam Community Center is located at 270 Main St. Those interested in the program should call 657-8327 or email harnessingmb@hotmail.com as soon as possible as program space is limited.