Fight For Peace leading with sports - Kellie Magnus

Kellie Magnus, Country Lead for the Jamaican arm of the Fight for Peace organisation, (a violence prevention entity), says without sports, they would not have been able to get through to many of the young people they are trying to mentor and assist in trouble communities.

Magnus said a lot of the young people in communities such as Trench Town, Hannah Town, Parade Gardens, Fletcher's Land, Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town, where they operate, are very apprehensive when it comes to participating in social intervention programmes. However, she said that they are able to use sports to win over sceptics and get the young people to come out and actively participate.

"It (sports) is what we lead with," she told The Gleaner. "You can use sport as a hook to bring in young people who would not want to get involved in something that looks like a social intervention. But sports is what gets them through the door and it is what keeps them inside. And once they are there you have an opportunity to expose them to other programmes that can meet their other needs," she explained."So we believe in the power of sports we just don't believe that sports can change every young person's life. So we get them through the door with sports but then you support them in taking advantages of all the other programmes that are here," she added.

Magnus was speaking at the launch of the Jamaica Boxing Board (JBB)/Fight for Peace Gloves over Guns fight card launch at the Denham Town Community Centre on Tuesday, and although she is grateful for the role that sport has played in, getting the people together, she emphasised that it is having sustainable programmes that will make lasting changes in the lives of the young people in these communities.

"The tournament that we kicked off is like an exclamation point. We don't believe in one off programmes we believe in sustainable long-term programmes that children can believe in and rely on and find themselves in. It's good when you have high points and the boxers have been training very hard for a while and want the chance to compete and show off what they learn.

"So we are really thankful that the Jamaica Boxing Board, with the permission and support of the joint command at the operating base here in Denham Town are putting this on to allow boxers from our programme to compete with other amateur boxers from across the island.

"Also, this is a chance for the communities to come together. It's not just Denham Town coming out, it's the other communities where we work, Hannah Town, Fletcher's Land, Parade Gardens, Tivoli, Trench Town will come together as one, and it's a chance to celebrate young people showing commitment and dedication and a willingness to transform their lives through sports," she said. The Gloves over Guns boxing event takes place at the Denham Town Community centre today from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.