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August 29, 2009
Salisbury’s Jewish Boxing King
Stacy Karten
Contributing Editor
Troubled kids in Salisbury are turning their lives around through the sport of boxing and it is due to the dedication of Hal Chernoff.
Founder of the Main Street Gym, Mr. Chernoff started helping at-risk kids in the community 20 years ago. His antiquated gym has become so popular and successful that a bigger and better facility became needed and a new Main Street Gym will be opening in a few months.
“I started a program for kids to box for free. I enjoy the sport of boxing. We used an old Trailways bus garage. It was completely renovated and adequate,” said Mr. Chernoff. The past two decades has seen Mr. Chernoff help scores of kids and the Salisbury community has been appreciative.
“We gained notoriety in the community. People want to help us expand,” he said.
A local philanthropist and friend of Mr. Chernoff, Daniel Burt, stepped up with most of the funding to build a gym that will be three to four times the size of the present facility. The new gym will boast two rings and plenty of speed bags, punching bags and medicine balls.
“We work with around 25 kids at any one time. We are having success with the kids. These are problem kids from the schools,” explained Mr. Chernoff.
He recalled that using boxing as a means to help kids was a tough sell at first. “People have a problem with boxing. The medical community has a problem with boxing, but the teachers saw a difference,” Mr. Chernoff remarked.
“Boxing has always seemed to draw the troubled kid. These kids needed a place to focus,” Mr. Chernoff said. He believes the kids he serves — and there are no age or gender restrictions — have goodness within them but they went down the wrong track. “No one is in their corner.
Mr. Chernoff treats the kids with respect and expects the same in return. “I tell them there are four things I expect: hello, goodbye, please and thank you. Many of them come in without ever having used those words,” he said.
Hal Chernoff, 58, grew up on a farm in the Utica-Rome area in upstate New York. His grandfather was from Kiev and he had an uncle who was a rabbi.
“Where we lived was a boxing-rich place, close to Syracuse, and the Boxing Hall of Fame [Canastota, N.Y.] was 18 miles from our house,” he remembered.
Having moved to Salisbury with his wife, Nancy, in 1975, Mr. Chernoff learned there were no boxing gyms there.
“I joined a martial arts club. One fellow asked me to teach him how to use his hands like I did. I started training people in my home,” he said.
His home also has been open to the kids he serves, some of whom have lived with his family over the years. In fact, one of his biggest successes and sources of pride relates to middleweight fighter Fernando Guerrero, now 21. “Fernando almost made the U.S. Olympic team this year. Now he is a pro and he’s 9-0, all knockouts,” said Mr. Chernoff.
Originally from the Dominican Republic, Mr. Guerrero has lived with the Chernoff family since he was 13.
“He gives back to the community. He helps kids in the gym. He goes to the schools,” Mr. Chernoff said proudly.
The young fighter could be in the main event on a boxing card that Mr. Chernoff is trying to bring to Salisbury in late fall/early winter.
Making a living as a realtor, Mr. Chernoff spends 10 hours a week in his current gym and another 25 to 30 hours getting the new facility ready. He said he wouldn’t trade this for anything: “It’s everything to me. It’s my life. The kids are part of our family.”
Maccabi Update: Akron
The Baltimore JCC delegation for the Maccabi Games in Akron, Ohio (Aug. 10-15) consisted of girls and boys basketball, bowling and girls soccer.
The girls basketball team won a bronze medal. Team members included: Autumn Cohen, Ali Flax, Chloe Frank, Shira Ness, Grace Schwartz, Sunny Snyder and Tali Vogelstein. The coaches were Mike Parson and Brian Yaniger.
The boys basketball team was eliminated from medal contention with a double-overtime loss to Houston. The girls soccer team met a similar fate by losing to Chicago on penalty kicks, 4-1.
Dan Levin brought home two medals as a bowler. He won silver in the singles event and teamed up with Ryan Markowitz to capture the bronze in the doubles.
Ravens At Beth El
Beth El Congregation in Pikesville will be having a tailgate party and air the Raens game against Houston on Sunday, Sept. 14.
Tailgating in the Beth El parking lot will start at 1 p.m. for the 4:15 game. Ravens mascot Poe and cheerleaders Chase and Paige will be in attendance.
The event is free and open to the community. Call 410-484-0411 or visit bethelbalto.com for details.