"Persevere, and success will be inevitable", were the wise words that professional boxer Tommy Coyle conveyed to a group of Year 10 GCSE PE students yesterday.
Thirteen girls have been chosen to take part in this year's Box Clever programme, which our academy has been involved in for the past two years.
The 5-week course, devised and run by Tommy with the help of his dedicated coaches, aims to teach discipline, commitment and fitness to young people who are new to boxing.
The girls will train once a week at Tommy's new East Hull academy and the programme will culminate with a sparring match against the boxer himself.
Tommy openly admits he was too laid back at school and didn't find his focus until he got into boxing. He hopes to use his love of the sport to inspire other youngsters to knuckle down, and prove that if you work hard, you can achieve anything.
He said, "I already know that I would be more competent in life if I had listened more and worked harder at school, but I was in with a certain crowd and I didn't take it seriously.
"Now I'm in a position where I've got to revisit my education to get where I want to be, whereas if I’d paid attention 10 years ago I would have saved myself a lot of time.
"There are three things you need to do to be successful - word hard, make sacrifices, persevere. Do all three of these and success will come your way.
"I'm a pretty successful boxer but I still want to go further, so I know I've got to work harder. Box Clever aims to show young people that hard work - and learning to ignore the voice that says, 'I can't' - can get you anywhere you want to be."