Brussels

Boxing Academy

The new Boxing Academy, located in the imposing Gare Maritime building on the Tour & Taxis site, offers young Brussels residents a safe space where they can try out a sport they've never tried before. Every Saturday, around 80 youngsters (the youngest is 8 and the oldest 20) come to train in boxing under the watchful eye of professional coaches. At the Boxing Academy, one in three young boxers is a girl.

We opted for a boxing academy because it was a request from the young people of Brussels themselves. Boxing is a sport that attracts a lot of young people. Studies show that one Belgian in five wants to take up sport, but is financially prevented from doing so. Decathlon has been trying for over 25 years to remove these financial obstacles to sport with its products. With projects such as the Boxing Academy, we go even further to have a positive impact on society. In this way, we are contributing to Decathlon's overall objective of making sport accessible to all.

Sophie Criquelion

Decathlon's Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact Leader

The boxing academy project

The Decathlon Foundation is very proud to have validated, at the end of 2022, the Belgian "Boxing Academy" project, led by Decathlon Brussels employees and the Sport2Be association. Initiated by Sport2Be and Decathlon employees, the Foundation project aims to create a boxing academy.

About Sport2Be:

Sport2Be is an association whose aim is to re-establish equal opportunities and empower young people in difficulty, through regular sports activities and a program of support towards employment and training. Sport2be organizes free, supervised weekly sports activities throughout Brussels for young people aged 6 to 25, combined with an employment and training support program for 16-year-olds.

A safe environment and a springboard for the future

Young people from all walks of life are divided into age categories, and train in a safe, inclusive environment where they can play sports in complete privacy.

According to Jill Boon, Red Panther and co-founder of Sport2Be: "In our country, one child in six lives in poverty, and this figure is even higher in Brussels. Children and young people living in poverty are often at greater risk of social exclusion. With Sport2Be, we want to offer them a springboard by helping them to find their bearings and enter the world of work. Young people from Brussels can come here to take up boxing from the age of eight. This age is deliberately very low: in this way we establish good links with young people, so that we can help them later in life too."