Head inside the Steve Cox Memorial Park's "log house" community center between 5-7pm any Monday through Friday and you will wtiness teens punching and groaning and sweating, and getting into shape while staying out of trouble. Sometimes 35 kids show up to duke it out with those human head-sized wobbly punching bags as well as the life-sized bags, tangling from chains. Yes, there is a ring where they hit each other, too.

Welcome to the King County Police Activities League, or P.A.L. Boxing Club. P.A.L. also has a basketball and football league. According to its website, "PAL is Cops Helping Kids. Police Activities League (PAL) is recognized by the Department of Justice as a juvenile delinquency reduction program. PAL gives youth a positive outlet for their energy and builds strong relationships between youth and law enforcement. Through recreational and educational programs, PAL brings kids under the constructive influence of law enforcement officers and expands awareness of the police’s role in the community. Today, there are over 360 PAL chapters in the United States.

The club presents "A Show for the Ages", a boxing match/fundraiser this Saturday, March 19, Evergreen High School, 830 SW 116th St.
Adults $10, 10 and under $5.
Call Coach Tony Rago at (206) 763-7525 or (206) 293-3742 or email him at rago3@comcast.net for more information.

Some of the kids who duke it out at the community center are there to avoid getting into trouble at school, home, and on the streets. Others attend for the exercise, camaraderie, and travel.

TEEN PARTICIPANTS WEIGH IN

"I come here three or four nights a week," said Golden Gloves champ Arturo Moreno, 13, of Burien. "It's fun. I like that I get to travel around. We went down to Fresno, California last November to compete. Competed there. I match kids may age and weight, 125 pounds."

"I haven't competed yet," said White Center resident Magdaleno Morales, 15, weight 137."I've been involved with the club for about one year. I like to work out, stay in shape," said the Evergreen High School student. "I like getting good grades, staying out of trouble. I had some friends come here and they recommend it.

"I used to like to fight, so coming in here was like fighting but not getting in trouble for it, Morales said. "I used to fight in the streets. Anybody that would start shuffling me, I'd start defending myself. I never did drugs, and I'm not planning to. My family wants me to come here every day. It keeps me busy, keeps stuff out of my mind."

"I want to stay with boxing after high school," said 263-pound, 5' 10" Misi Tuitoelau, whose father was born in Samoa. He lives by the South Park and Sea-Tac border. He is finishing up at Evergreen High School and has no specific college plans yet.

"I've been in the club for three years now," he said. "After conditioning for a while I started to feel better health wise. I start to do things I couldn't physically do before. I come every day, condition, work hard. Once in a while I go to the weight room at Evergreen and work out with the track team."

COACHES SERVE AS ROLE MODELS

"Kids get in trouble at school and outside of school, so our object is to work them so hard they are too tired to go out and get into trouble," said head coach Tony Rago, 63, who volunteers at least 15 hours a week with the kids, along with his assistants, Lori Graham of Fauntlery, and Keith Weir.

"In professional boxing the object is to hurt the guy, knock him out," said Rago, "Amateur boxing is to outscore opponent. No one gets really hurt. We've seen a bloody nose. They wear protective head gear and mouth pieces."

Rago retired from the production end at the Seattle Times. He started working out and training at a gym called South park Boxing which became Sea Mar Youth Boxing, then to Bumble Bee Boxing Club on Beacon Hill, before landing here three years ago.

There is a hand-written sign of his list of rules on the wall he said every new kid coming in has to read with their parent or guardian.

They are:

Attendance
No cursing
Don't forget your equipment
Proper gym attire
No sitting during workout
No drugs or alcohol
No trash talking
Hand wraps at all times
No sell phones or music
No friends hanging around
No food or pop
Pick up equipment

"If you cuss or trash talk, you have to drop down and give me 25 push-ups," he said, adding that if you can't do 25 at once, he accepts an installment plan.

"I became interested in boxing as an exchange student in Argentina in 1998," said Graham, a professional dietician. "I did college sports, did boxing. We're certified by US Ameteur Boxing Association," she said of the coaches.

"It was really uncommon for women to box in Argentina," she recalled. "The women will be competing in boxing in the Olympics next year. I don't box here, only if provoked," she adding with a chuckle, "It's brutality with a smile. We love the kids. They get to come for free. Some have athletic ability, others have none, but we get the best out of everybody.

SHERIFF RAHR PROUD OF P.A.L. BOXING PROGRAM

"Sheriff Sue Rahr is a big supporter of P.A.L. boxing," said Laurie Perkins who works fro the organization. The teens see the police as a positive roll model and we experience a juvinile delinquency reduction."

"PAL Boxing has a long standing tradition of teaching kids about fitness and discipline," Sheriff Rahr told the West Seattle Herald via email. "I'm so proud of the young people who have made the commitment to this program and I'm honored to support them!"

P.A.L. relies on business and private sponsorship, and donations. The boxing matches help raise money for equipment, traveling, and other expenses.