MARTINSVILLE, VA(WFXR) — Boxing has always provided a safe haven for Rockbottom athletics coach Jomo Lucas.

“I have been blessed to remain here in the community to try and do somethings and help some youth to not repeat the mistakes that I made,” said Lucas.

Mistakes that the sport of boxing – can help aleviate.

“You can hit this bag as hard as you want to, and you won’t get in any trouble you won’t catch a change and it won’t hit back. So, it provides a sanctuary for people to just come and unwind, unleash, and blow off steam,” said Lucas.

Lucas is partnering with Patrick and Henry Community College – to create one of the only community college boxing clubs in the commonwealth. For Patrick and Henry Athletic Director Brian Henderson – joining forces with Coach Lucas was a no-brainer.

“He used to be a student at PH also and he said he always wanted to give back and this was his opportunity to do so, and we have a mutual connection that connected us which is why now we have the P&H boxing club starting with the partnership of Rock-Bottom Athletics,” said Henderson.

Coach Lucas said that all the lessons that he plans to teach in this very ring will help his students face many of the obstacles out in the world.

“You learn discipline, that is one of the biggest things that this sport can teach. I often tell a lot of the people that I work with and that I train with is that it’s one of the only sports where it can teach you how to be a loser…it usually shows the people who are willing to go the extra mile are the ones who are always on top. If you learn to go that extra mile in the gym you can learn to go that extra mile in life,” said Lucas.

The club isn’t just about learning new skills in the ring -they’re looking to compete.
P&H will be entering the National Collegiate Boxing Association – and hopes to one day work with USA Boxing.
as serious as the sport can be – they’re also looking to have some fun – while creating not just a team – but a family.

“Even the people who you go to war within the ring you develop a bond a brotherhood and it’s unbreakable. The fight game is something that everybody isn’t meant to experience but I wish it was something everybody could,” said Lucas.

With every round….punch…hit…and dodge…Coach Lucas and the P&H Boxing Club look to create the next great contender in the ring. .