REGINA - A new boxing gym, Queen City Boxing, has opened in Regina, with Tarin Carr handling all the day-to-day operations, including coaching the next generation.
Carr, raised in Regina, never considered coaching, let alone 小蓝视频 a boxer growing up. He described himself as an "athletic kid," but never really participated in any team sports.
While Carr was athletic, he also felt he was a scrappier kind of person. He felt boxing could discipline him, so around 2015, he started participating in the sport.
After winning his first fight, Carr fell in love with boxing because "it's like a feeling that just cannot be bought. You just have to experience it, and then it's just addicting, and I think after that first fight [where] your family comes And watches [you] and, you know, you [are trying to] put on a good performance. It's [a feeling of] you want more."
Carr noted how different boxing is from team sports. "It's kind of [like] you're on your own, like you might have a good coach. You might have, you know, another boxer or two that trains with you in the gym, but, you know, you have to wake up and run your miles. You have to make sure that you get your shadow boxing in [and] you got to make sure that you show up to the gym."
Despite putting a lot of time into training, Carr said during the day of a fight, there can be so many emotions going through your head, like, 'why am I even doing this?' Even with these feelings, Carr said the love for boxing can make anyone push pass the stress.
During his time competing, Carr participated different tournaments, including the provincials for Sask., the Boxing Alberta Silver Gloves and other big competitions.
Even though Carr never considered himself the best boxer, he enjoyed competing at a high level. That was until one day Carr received news that he had a health condition that prohibited him from competing at a higher level.
In that moment, Carr described feeling like he was almost "betrayed." However, he understood there was more important things for him to worry about. "There's way more bigger issues in my life and in the world. It is what it is. It's not fair for my family to see me go through that, you know, [go] through those type of events either. When, you know, you put your life on the line in some of these fights."
So, since then, Carr has coached and competed for the last few years. Last year, Carr decided he wanted to focus more of his time on coaching. Carr described feeling he was born to be a coach because of the love he has for teaching.
After coaching for a few years, Carr wanted to open up his own gym that reflected Regina. He explained wanting to having a community space, with many types of people walking through with the same passion for boxing and working together to get better. Carr also felt Regina lacked a boxing gym which offered top-notch training.
So, Carr got the keys to the building in late summer and spent the next two months painting, setting up equipment and more. With help from his family and friends, Carr would spend 12 hours at the facility preparing for its opening.
After all his preparations and hard work, Carr officially opened up Queen City Boxing on Oct. 7, 2024.
Carr trains people and holds classes six days a week. One of those classes is teaching youth between the ages of 9-17 how to box on Mondays and Wednesdays every week.
So far, with the training, the kids have been learning the basic fundamentals of boxing to prepare for contact training.
If you asked Carr which fundamental is most important, he would tell you it’s footwork. He explained, "[footwork] is number one. [It is important to train your feet before your hands. I always say you can't shoot a cannon out of a canoe, and someone [is] like 'huh,' and [during the training, it finally clicks [for them]."
Carr also said there is a common misconception about boxing where people think it’s all about going in the ring and throwing a few punches. Once people understand what it truly takes to be a boxer, he said the "sky is the limit" for anyone.
While most of the boxers Carr teaches are doing it for fun, there are a couple of students who are serious about becoming boxers.
When asked if it would mean a lot to have a boxer he trained go on to compete at a high level, Carr said, "I think for any coach or any person that calls himself a coach in the sport of boxing, that's kind of one achievement they would like to have."
As for Carr, he is currently focused on growing as a person and 小蓝视频 confident that every student he trains can learn the sport from zero and help them reach their own goals and potential. Eventually, Carr would like his gym to be known as the number one spot for boxing training in Regina.
Queen City Boxing is located at 1620-D Mcara St.
