The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

O By NORMAN NELSON Beaver Sports Editor Veteran amateur boxing coach looking to start Oakville club His competitive career stretched out over two decades with the highlight reel starting in the early sixties when he first started boxing, under the tutelage of a U.S. Marine champion His own boxing career was solid with only 15 losses in 59 amateur bouts (his professional record is 0â€"1, after coming out of retirement for one club fight). "I never won the nationals at the nationals, but I did beat five Canadian champiâ€" ons," he said. In the mid sixties, he competed with the United States Marine Corps, winning a base championship in Barstow California and winning the 1967 Las Vegas Regional Golden Gloves Novice title. In the late sixties, he boxed out of Toronto‘s Landsdowne Athletic Club. During this time, he defeated Toronto heavyweight Tony Burwell and lost to Bobby Bozak. His own coaching career began shortly after becoming the British Columbia heavyweight The elder Stevenson has been involved in amateur boxing â€" first as a fighter, then in the coaching and administrative ranks â€" for most of his life. After a stop in Ottawa with trainer James Malish, he headed west and trained and fought in Vancouver, under Elio Ius. Blake Stevenson, who attends White Oaks Secondary School, is a superb boxer in his own right, and he needs somewhere to work out. A current national champion in the intermediate (underâ€"19) heavyweight class.:(he has won four national championships as he has advanced through a number of age groups and weight classes), he‘s currently knocking a punching bag in the family‘s garage and pounding the track at nearby White Oaks. "I‘ m more concerned with amateur boxing as a vehicle to work with young people. We defiâ€" nitely ended up with a conflict of ideals." Besides his desire to provide boxing skills to youngsters that want to learn them, he also has a more selfish reason for wanting a club closer to home â€" his son. "Just a difference of focus," he explained, clearly wishing to take the high road in his explaâ€" nation. His former employer, he elaborated, was geared more towards professional boxing. He‘s anxious to start a new club after cutting his ties with the Toronto club that he had origiâ€" nally joined earlier this year after moving his family from western Canada. worked before for Jim Stevenson, who has helped more than a few amateur boxers on their way to provincial and national titles, and he‘s hoping it will work once again in Oakville where he hopes to establish a boxing gym. B uild it, and they will come. It has always i AND RECREA Jim Stevenson works out with son Blake, a fourâ€"time national champion. The elder Stevenson is looking to establish a club in Oakville, in part so his son can have a place to box out of. champion. numerous amateur boxing cards and coaching He was managing a service station at the time _ numerous club, regional and provincial teams. In 1979, he competed at the nationals in Prince George. In 1980, he won the provincials and competed at the nationals and Olympic Trials in Halifax. Outside of the ring, he coached Jimmy Manson to a national intermediate title in 1975 and started the University of Ottawa Boxing Club in 1976. As the 1970s ended, he ended his competitive career and turned totally to coaching, starting the Brock Boxing Club in the basement of his Kamloops home. He eventually grew to be a fixture on the British Columbia boxing scene, organizing In 1975, he won a gold medal at the Western Canada summer games in Regina. In 1978, he lost to Dennis Belair in the Western Canadians. Over the next few years his resume followed two streams, as both coach and fighter. In 1973, he fought North American heavyâ€" weight champ Caroll Morgan at the nationals in Charlottetown and Commonwealth champ Kevin Downey at the Montreal nationals. He was managing a service station at the time and "two young guys asked me if I would teach them how to box." "Within 11 months, one of them was the Canadian senior champion." A short time later he started up and coached the Kamloops Amateur Boxing Club. To start the club, which would be run on a nonâ€"profit basis, he said he‘ll need some commuâ€" nity support, starting with a place to set up a gym. He said studies have found that boxing is less dangerous than wrestling, hockey or football, and even has a better injury rate going for it than baseball or volleyball. Coming out of "a rather abusive childhood," he said his involvement with boxing "literally saved my life." Interested boxers or sponsors can reach him at 842â€"7819. With amateur boxing, he said, "the safety of the athlete is first." In 1992, he took his boxing skills to the Star Boxing Academy in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he trained Canadian champions Shanod Thibault, Leighton King and Blake Stevenson. If the punishing sport has a bad reputation, he maintains that it comes mostly from the profesâ€" sional version which is there to entertain fans, sometimes "at the expense of the athletes." In 1990, he opted for a change of scenery, starting a gym in Hobbema, Alberta. The followâ€" ing year he coached the Alberta provincial team to its best ever showing at the junior nationals in Sarnia with four gold and one bronze. In a short time, the club was home to three Canadian chamâ€" pions. Registration for the Halton Mens Hockey League is under way for men over the age of 23 who want to play recreational, non contact hockey in Oakville. All games are in prime time with a choice of night games or Sunday morning games. Individual entries only, no full terams are permitâ€" ted.For information, call 849â€"9712. Players wanted The Triâ€"City Hockey League, a new nonâ€"contact league for men over 19 years of age, is looking for terams from the Oakville, Mississauga or Burlington areas for the coming season. Games are scheduled on Wednesday and Sunday nights, all during prime time before 11 p.m. The season begins in October. For information, call 849â€"9712. Both programs are offered in prime time, Thursdays and Sundays at 4 and 5 p.m. The courses cover nine sesâ€" sions and the cost is $99. For informaâ€" tion or registration forms, call 849â€"9712 or find applications also at Glen Abbey or River Oaks arenas. The Cutting Edge program (6 to 9 years of age) is a power skating class with hockey related exercises to proâ€" mote power, starting, stopping and mobility. The Gliders program (5â€"8 years of age) is a learnâ€"toâ€"skate program which provides beginning skaters with the fundamentals to become independent and confident on the ice. The Cutting Edge skating academy is offering two instructional courses this fall and winter at Appleby College. Teams wanted Sports Digest| Golf for MOHA Registration is conducted through the Oakville Parks and Recreation Department at 338â€"4250. For more information on the program call (416) 766â€"6809. Cost of the program is $144 for 12 weeks. The cutting edge Course leader Laura Harris says the idea is to make skating a positive experience and to get children to learn the proper way to skate from the start. Harris says she aims at a 5â€"1 ratio of students to teachers so each pupil gets the kind of specialized attention needed at this age. She has taught competitive skating and is a coach at the York Region Teaching Academy. The program utilizes toys, games and rhythmic exercise to make skating a fun time. Learn to skate If you‘re thinking about signing up your 3â€"5 yearâ€"old for skating lessons this year, Funskate starts this Thursday (Sept. 22) at Glen Abbey arena. The $75 cost includes golf, dinner and a dance. Some openings are still available and supporters should call the MOHA office at 257â€"8992. The Minor Oaks Hockey Association is holding its first annual golf tournament on Friday, Sept. 23 at Richview Golf Club. Quaker State Quality ever¢/fime‘" 260 Speers Road | g 1 CA