AUSTIN, Texas — Six days a week, from 8:30 in the morning to 6 at night, you can find Ray Williams boxing at Givens Park.
- Williams is training a boxing team
- He hopes to bring positivity to the neighborhood
- APD joined in the training program
“You know I put my heart into it. I eat, sleep and breathe this stuff, it’s all I know," said Williams.
He started a year and a half ago working out there on his own, but before long, he noticed some of the kids needed more than just the outdoors.
“I see a lot of them out here running a little wild sometimes you know and I grab them and bring them over here and give them water and Gatorade and stuff and work with them," said Williams. "And they come the next day and they’re happy because they have something to do.”
Now, he's training a team to compete in formal fights, but he still welcomes any kid who wants to just work out and have fun.
“Man, it's a beautiful thing, like, you know, we gotta look out for our future generations," said Princeton Collins, one of the boxers Williams trains. "I really admire what he does for the community, and you know, how he's involved with everybody and wants to do everything for the better.”
“All this is discipline. It’s learning how to be responsible, you know?" said Williams, "And the reason why I do it like this is because the kids are happy and these are some of the things I didn’t get to do when I was coming up.”
Williams says it's his way of giving back.
“Most people don’t want their children to come down here because of the bad activity we’ve been having lately in the past. But things are looking brighter. So I’m trying to bring something positive, you know what I mean, so we can start having a park again," said Williams.
After a man was shot and killed at the park in April, some worried about safety. For Williams, this project is a way of reclaiming the park for the community.
“This is the park where their residence at and they need to come here. They need to be happy here. They need to be safe here. So that's the reason why I really do these things here because I want these kids to be able to come somewhere safe and be happy," said Williams.
Officers from the Austin Police Department even joined in the fun after noticing Williams training and working out with kids every time they did patrols.
That's how they ended up partnering with Williams for four Mondays this year in June and July, working out with the kids as part of APD's community engagement program called Blue Wave, which aims to build positive relationships between officers and the community.
Although July 1 was the last Monday that APD officers joined in the workout, Williams continues to train kids at Givens Park six days a week.
And after seeing the impact he’s had in just a year and a half, Williams has no plans to stop anytime soon.
“I wish I could get every kid around here man, every kid just to come out here and enjoy themselves," said Williams.