GASTONIA, N.C. -- Dean Huffstickler is a former Gastonia police officer. He’s also the former coach of the Gastonia Police Athletic League boxing team.

Patroling the streets, he would see a lot of teenagers fighting.

Huffstickler decided those fists could be used somewhere else, so in 1968, he started a boxing team for teenagers.

The boxers were diverse, especially for the '60s and '70s. 

But former boxer James Mcclain said they never really thought about color until a trip they took to South Carolina. When the team tried to stop for food, Huffstickler came back to the bus to tell his team what the restaurant told him.

“He had an angry look on his face. He told us what happened. They refused to feed the black fighters. [Huffstickler] told them if they weren't going to feed all my fighters, they weren't going to feed none of my fighters,” Mcclain said.

From that moment, they went from a boxing team to a lot more. They learned who Coach Dean really was.

“I would just say he was a civil rights activist for us,” Mcclain said. “He stood up for us.”

He also made the world feel a little smaller. He took the team on trips. For some of the fighters, it was the first time they had seen the ocean.

Huffstickler said he achieved his original goal. He said crime in Gastonia actually went down after the team started.

But he did more than just shape statistics. He shaped lives.

“I think I've accomplished what I've tried to do with these guys,” Huffstickler said. “They have really got to me.”

Apparently, he also got to them! Two of his fighters were recently inducted in the U.S. Marine Corps Boxing Hall of Fame.

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