The New South Wales town of Yass is often overshadowed by the national capital down the road, but it is quickly gaining a name for producing young boxers. A gym hidden behind an unassuming home is not only developing athletes but changing lives.
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00:00 From the outside, this looks like a regular country home.
00:06 But as you walk down the driveway to the shed in the backyard, it quickly becomes obvious
00:11 that it's so much more.
00:12 It's not just a boxing gym for me, it's a family.
00:16 The Valley Boxing Gym opened in 2020 and is now home to more than 70 boxers with varying
00:22 levels of ability.
00:23 From up and coming talent like Michaela Armstrong, who won the prestigious Gene Lewis belt in
00:28 America late last year.
00:30 I came out to Aaron and he's like, "Do you want to go in the ring?
00:35 Do you want to go to the Olympics?"
00:36 And I'm like, "Yes, I want to go to the Olympics."
00:37 And he's like, "OK, that's your goal."
00:38 And he's just like pushed me to my best.
00:44 To kids with confidence or health issues, the local sergeant and parents who unexpectedly
00:52 want to join in on the action, like Max Miyok's mum.
00:55 It threw me off a little bit.
00:57 She's always been a little bit sceptical of it, but she seems to enjoy it, so I'm really
01:01 happy about that.
01:02 Max and his whole family, I'd hate to walk into that house in the middle of the night.
01:08 The coach has breathed new life into a community that didn't know it needed it.
01:13 A bit of a character, but I love him.
01:17 He's like a second dad, he's taught me things that I never would have known without him.
01:20 So if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I would have been.
01:23 But the athletes have given him just as much.
01:26 I suffered.
01:29 So just thought having something to give, you know, when you suffer from mental health,
01:36 sometimes putting something above yourself gives you purpose.
01:41 Not only am I helping them, they're helping me.
01:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]