Be First Boxing, Peekskill
Photo credit: Neal Rentz
The sports training facility Be First received its name for many reasons.
The non-for-profit in Peekskill has been stressing those many positive ideals since it opened about eight years ago.
Cortlandt resident Westley Artope, Be First’s executive director, said last week the facility’s name was coined by the late boxer Freddie Spry, whose poster is in Be First. Spry’s father, Frederick J. Spry, was one of the first boxing coaches in Peekskill in 1968.
“Be first in line. Be first to actually work out. Be first in everything,” Artope said, adding Be First has its own boxing team.
“It’s actually a boxing saying,” Mohegan Lake resident Michael Kulp, Be First’s director of promotions and marketing, noted. “You’ll always hear coaches in the corners yelling at the fighters, ‘be first’ so that the other guy reacts.”
Artope was an amateur boxer and practitioner of the martial arts. “I’ve grew up around a lot of fighters,” he said, adding both of his brothers were professional fighters.
Artope said his responsibilities as Be First’s executive director include maintaining the gym and working with youths. “When I was younger, nobody had a place such as this to be able to come to, that was not that expensive,” he said. Be First allows participants to form bonds with coaches as well as developing themselves both physically and mentally, he said.
A variety of programs are offered at Be First for individuals from the ages of five to 75. “We did that purposefully because wanted to be able to bring together the families so that a father, a mother and their children can actually work out in this gym. So it’s very family-orientated, very community-orientated,” Artope explained.
Youth and adult boxing, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, karate and conditioning for young athletes after their seasons are over are among the programs offered by Be First. A Boot Camp program is also offered. “Boot Camp is actually more intense conditioning and cardo workouts for people who want to increase their level of workout,” Artope said. “We consider it a boot camp because it’s really challenging. It’s for those people who are weekend warriors.” Many individuals volunteer their time to oversee Be First’s programs, he said, adding autistic children also participate in programs at Be First.
Yorktown resident Gino Zorluoglu, a Be First investor, and his company, Tri-State Construction Equipment, has donated many pieces of equipment for Be First. “Even my son (Kerin) comes here,” he said “And I’ve seen the difference in him since he started coming here. That’s why it made me invest more time.”
Be First provides much more than just sports training, Artope said. “Our mission is to actually teach kids (and adults) diversity, conflict resolution, teaching kids the beauty of being able to work out and carrying it from here to throughout their lives,” he said. “To teach them to understand the importance of health and keeping themselves together, not only mentally, but physically, which will certainly touch the spiritual aspect of themselves and being able to take whatever lessons they learn here and being able to apply them in society.”
“When someone joins this gym they’re not just joining a gym, they’re joining a second family,” Kulp said.
“Be First Boxing is located at 200 N. Water St. in Peekskill. For more information, call 914-737-3178 or visit befirstboxingpeekskill.org.
