Bryan Gibson was married, starting a family and had just competed for Canada in boxing at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
They had just moved to Kentville — Gibson grew up in nearby Gibson Woods — and his wife, Terri, encouraged him to start his own boxing club.
“I started off going to three different schools three nights a week,” said Gibson. “I’d do one school a night, just throw stuff in the trunk of my car and go. So I did that from 1983 to 1985, then I stopped and went back to school for a couple of years.”
Gibson started back up again in 1987 when he was offered space in the basement of the Kentville Recreation Centre. Thus the Evangeline Trail Boxing Club was born and has been there since.
“My goal is to help kids and even adults if they want to use the sport to better their lives,” said the 76-year-old Gibson. “I had one kid who got into drugs when he was about 14 and he told me that boxing saved his life, and I’ve had others who have taken a darker path in life who have gotten into boxing and it’s saved them, so I’m really proud of that.”
Having devoted his life to the sport, Gibson is adamant that those who want to be part of his club be willing to put in the work like he did when he started.
“If you say you want to try, to me you’re just looking for an excuse,” said Gibson. “You’re going to do it or you don’t. You either want it or you don’t. And for those that do, it’s a great life experience. I’ve got a big family in boxing across Canada.”
Gibson admits there are challenges to keeping the club going, with competition from other sports and sponsorship chief among them. He hopes there will be a successor to keep the club going once he decides to hang up his gloves, but if there isn’t, he’ll likely donate his equipment to another club.
But there are still lessons to be taught.
“I ask my kids if they lose a bout, ‘What did you learn?’” said Gibson. “You don’t learn nothing by winning all the time. You can learn when you win, what did you do to win, and if you lost, what did you learn from it?
“Boxing builds self-esteem. You get to know who you are, what you can do and what you can’t, and you learn that if you want something bad enough, you have to work hard for it.”
