The relationship between fans and the sweet science ends when the combatants leave the squared circle. Pundits tend to dig a bit deeper, getting to know fighters personally so they can tell their stories on video or for their bylines. However, the sweet science means so much more to others. It’s not only a sport, but an opportunity to better themselves and their lives. And for the few and rare, a chance to give to those less fortunate a second chance at a higher quality of life.
For Sean Sharkey, co-founder and executive director of the Feet First Foundation, pugilism has been intertwined with his life since childhood. The Feet First Foundation is a nonprofit organization that helps underserved youth and communities through boxing and mentorship.bGrowing up in the Bay Area in California, Sharkey’s exposure to and relationship with boxing started at an early age. Sharkey’s father was a boxing coach, and a lasting impression with former heavyweight champion George Foreman started Sharkey’s journey in boxing.
“I got my start training side by side with George Foreman,” Sharkey recalled in an interview with FightsATW‘s Abraham Gonzalez on The Boxing Rush Hour Show podcast. “I was 10 years old. I’d wrap myself around his arm, and he’d do curls with me.”
Sharkey’s time with Foreman was only the beginning of his bond with the sweet science. A connection that ranges from becoming an amateur boxer to opening his own gym in Martinez, California. As time went on, the gym took on a role beyond training fighters, becoming a sanctuary where people could turn their lives around. Sharkey noticed the changes unfolding before his eyes, which led him to help launch the Feet First Foundation in 2017.
“We live in an area where there’s a lot of undeserved youth and with that comes trauma, addiction issues, and a variety of challenges,” said Sharkey. “That’s always been the first group of people I wanted to help. I’ve kept this gym going all these years to help young people or anybody in the community who is struggling.”
A Different Kind of Boxing Program
Part of the charm and uniqueness of running a boxing gym is the types of characters and personalities you’ll encounter. More often than not, being able to manage the wide array of people entering the gym requires more knowledge than teaching someone how to throw a jab properly.
“The boxing gym attracts either this really dedicated, committed fighter that comes in, does his thing, doesn’t talk much, trains hard, and comes back the next day,” said Sharkey. And then you get these crazy people that some how find us.
“I always joke that I’m a psychologist before I’m even a fight trainer.”
While most boxing programs might include your typical work on the heavy bag, speed bag, and jump rope, the programs used by Feet First don’t prioritize your typical boxing workouts. Instead of sparring and competition, the programs place greater emphasis on lessons that can be applied outside the ring in everyday life.
Sharkey calls the programs in Feet First non-contact boxing workouts with social-emotional lessons, featuring up to 36 techniques, including gratitude, managing negative thoughts, breathing techniques, and stress control.
“We developed this non-contact boxing workout for students and coupled it with a social-emotional program,” explained Sharkey. “We developed 36 because there are 36 weeks in an average school year, so we had one lesson per week.”
The Feet First Foundation’s success in integrating boxing with the development of more positive behavior in people was only one of the first steps the nonprofit has taken.
Boxing is known for being dangerous and a sport where death is a reality. A sport known for being so adverse to its participants’ well-being, it would seem like hyperbole for boxing to be anything but detrimental to one’s health. However, according to Sharkey and another organization, Rock Steady Boxing, research on boxing workouts has shown positive results in people with Parkinson’s disease, including improvements in motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and speech, driven by neuroplasticity.
“So these kids that are making these poor decisions get into this boxing program, and they’re starting to make these good decisions now,” stated Sharkey. “It’s this thing called neuroplasticity, it’s a protein that gets released in the brain, and it’s worked unbelievably.”
Neuroplasticity occurs through activity and repetition, enabling the brain to reorganize and build new neural connections.
“You can look this up with Parkinsons’s disease, there’s an organization called Rock Steady Boxing that’s done tons of research and one-on-one work throughout the United States,” said Sharkey. “They have proven without a shadow of a doubt that boxing actually stimulates this neuroplasticity, and these Parkinson’s disease patients who we’ve had one or two in our gym have made progress, too.”
Expanding The Mission
The Feet First Foundation runs programs through schools across California. Sharkey, however, is expanding the nonprofit’s reach by taking on new initiatives. Some of the new endeavors include self-defense classes for Spanish-speaking women and potential collaborations on youth programs in the Oakland, CA area with former NFL players Marshawn Lynch and Josh Johnson.
Sharkey’s mission has always pushed the limits of boxing’s reach. For him, the gym has been more about helping people and teaching lessons that extend far beyond boxing.
For so many, through the Feet First Foundation, Sharkey has turned his gym into a lifeline.
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