STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A local boxing gym is making a big difference in the lives of kids and adults with disabilities — by boosting confidence and creating a safe space while training.
In August 2024, Nicholas DeMarco, who owns DeMarco’s Boxing Club, and Salvatore Mosomillo, a social worker and mental health therapist, joined forces to create Camp by DeMarco’s Boxing.
DeMarco explained he was already offering boxing services at his club to people with disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum. After getting “amazing feedback” from the parents, he spoke with Mosomillo, who works with kids with autism and intellectual disabilities, to expand training services even further.
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“The parents — knowing me and my credibility with the people — and having Sal’s background gives the parents even more confidence in sending the kids and young adults,” said DeMarco.
Mosomillo said there is a misconception that boxing is dangerous, and that such behaviors could be mimicked. But boxing helps kids release stress and anxiety, he said. Mosomillo’s background in mental health helps kids focus and improve emotional regulation.
“We help them improve their focus, we help them improve their confidence,” said Mosomillo. “Having these kids just be able to walk around with their head held high and be confident, I think that to me is just a wonderful thing. And be able to learn how to increase their self-awareness and learn how to defend themselves is something that I specifically take pride in.”
Mosomillo recalled a recent moment when a mother thanked him for helping her son boost his confidence through training.
“It’s stuff like that that really I take such pride in to see, these families loving how their children are interacting with the world,” said Mosomillo. “And then also on top of it, coming out of the gym feeling so strong and confident.”
DeMarco added that boxing gives tremendous self-confidence, and that the club provides a “safe space” for kids with disabilities.
“Some of them don’t really socialize or interact that much, so now we also give them the safe space to come in and make new friends and meet new people and feel that they have maybe a second home or a cool place to hang out,” he said. “It’s a bigger gym, so now they’re also interacting with possible amateur fighters and other kids that maybe play high school sports. So it’s a sense of community.”
The pair offer boxing services to kids of all ages, as young as 4 years old, to adults with disabilities. Depending on how well a child follows instruction and how well they understand, they can try out a session for 30 minutes to determine if they are ready.
DeMarco noted he’s trained many adults and kids, and the facial expressions and appreciation are “gratifying on another level.”
“It’s a community, in terms of having all these kids feel like they have a place they belong,” said Mosomillo. “I feel a lot of places want sometimes for the money, but I feel like what me and Nicky do, it’s for the passion, it’s for the love of the kids, it’s for the love of the community itself. It’s really to help all these kids in general, whether it’s special needs or amateur fighters, to really gain a sense of pride in what they do and a sense of belonging.”
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