KENNER -- Many have Olympic dreams but few are able to achieve them. For 14-year-old Kenner resident Alexis Lavarine, that dream has come a step closer to reality with a win at the recent USA Boxing Nationals held in Kansas City, Missouri.
Lavarine punched her way to a spot on the USA Amateur Boxing Travel National Team Junior Division for 2017--with a chance to make the 2020 Olympic Boxing team.
In December Lavarine traveled to the tournament with her coach and father, David Lavarine, to compete against the best in the country. In the championship round she beat Maricia Sustaita of Garland, Texas 5-0 in an unanimous decision to become the 138-pound weight class junior division national champion. The feat earned her one of the 10 spots on the junior national team.
"It feels really great," Lavarine said. "I have been training for it all my life and I believe that being on this team will get me to the 2020 Olympics."
The reality of the magnitude of her accomplishment began to set in when Lavarine was rushed off after her victory to meet with Olympic officials.
USA Boxing Interim Executive Director Mike McAtee addressed the newly designated team members and officials passed out Team USA swag. There was a photo session with members donning their new attire and gifts were distributed. It was overwhelming for the youngest member of the team.
"It's amazing to know that I am getting to this level and that I can do the same or better," Lavarine said.
As a member of the national team, Lavarine will train for more than two weeks in May at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado with some of the best boxing coaches in the world.
In June she will begin her international competition with a trip to China followed by trips to compete in Russia, Germany and Taiwan during the year.
"It is very exciting because when we go overseas, you will see people we might see in the Olympics," Lavarine said.
The team members travel and stay together on the international trips. Tutors accompany the student athletes to help them keep up with their academics. Family members are allowed to attend the competitions but visits are limited to one or two hours a day.
And that's okay with David Lavarine.
Despite the years of coaching his daughter, he will gladly give his duties over to the Olympic coaches.
"I will be the biggest fan in the stands," he said. "It will be great for her to be with people who have been in the business for 30 or 40 years."
The USA Boxing National travel team has three divisions for women: junior for ages 14 and 15; youth for ages 16 and 17; and elite for ages 18 to 39. There are 10 weight classes in each division and members must compete each year for a spot on the team.
The USA women's Olympic boxing team will be selected from the members of the national team. Currently, there are three weight classes for women to compete in at the Olympics. It's possible more classes will be added for the 2020 Games, though.
It's heady business considering it's taken years of work for Lavarine just to reach the junior national level. She started the sport at age 7 when she announced to her parents she wanted to try boxing. Reluctantly, her parents agreed to let her try the sport but figured it was a passing desire.
The passion didn't die down, however.
"Boxing fits by personality," she said. "I'm very aggressive. I like the discipline, and I don't have to count on anyone else."
Lavarine, an eighth-grader at T.H. Harris Middle School, works out five days a week for two hours at the Big Easy Boxing Club of New Orleans. Workouts are in addition to the team sports she plays at T.H. Harris. The three-time USA Boxing Ringside world champion will continue to compete in USA Boxing sponsored tournaments when not training or traveling with her national team.
It will be a very busy year for this young Olympic hopeful but Lavarine said she is ready for the next level of competition. And she has one goal for the next four years.
"I want to be a gold medalist in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo," she said on her website.
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Information from: The Times-Picayune
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