GILROY — Last year, Tom Legan’s son Rosino got a taste of the international boxing scene with a trip to Puerto Rico. His son’s experience there illuminated a light bulb in Tom’s head — Why not help others do the same?
Just like that, the dream of sending a boxing team from San Jose PAL to Italy was born.
Tom reached out to the Italian Boxing Federation who were open to the idea and offered to cover five days of training, housing and meals at their Olympic Training Camp in Rome for the team. The IBF is also paying for all ground transport and bearing the cost of the tournament and venue. All the Italians asked was that PAL reciprocated the offer and allowed them to visit California.
While the road to Italy is paved with good intentions, it has been anything but smooth sailing. Italy asked that PAL provide a full team — including one female boxer. Coaches and U.S. officials are also needed to make the trip for it to be sanctioned by USA Boxing. With each trip costing at least $3,000 per person, Tom said the program needs between $30,000-50,000 in order to make it a reality.
“It’s like taking a rock band on the road,” Tom quipped.
The San Jose PAL organization is made up of mostly underprivileged athletes. The likelihood of them raising the money on their own is next to impossible, so Tom took matters into his own hands to raise the money for them. Armed with a copy of the Business Journals’ list of the top 10 charitable companies in the Silicon Valley, he began contacting them to sponsor the trip. Most of the time he received no answer or ones similar to The Sobrato Organization’s which stated they were accepting applications for grants for 2016.
Tom was down, but not out. He approached Santa Clara County’s Florence Foundation — which harbors the relationship with Santa Clara’s sister county, the Province of Florence, Italy. After approaching it on several separate occasions, the foundation took a vote and it was a resounding “not interested.”
With the Italians coming here in May, Tom’s time is running out to save the trip. While could open it up to more privileged boxers, he said he’d much rather help send a kid who may not ever have the chance again.
“For a lot of these guys this is going to be their only step out of California,” Tom said. “They’ll get as far as a buddy’s car will take them and sometimes not even that far. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Tom and the PAL boxers are seeking donations big and small to help get them to Italy. Whether it be a $100 donation or a corporation who will cover the cost, Tom said every little bit helps.
The boxers are looking to head to Italy in June after school is out on what could be the tipping point in these young boxer’s lives, sending them to places they’d otherwise only see on TV.
“It’s planting the seed,” Tom said. “It’s something that could be contagious and if nothing else, keep them pointed down the path that they’re going down. They could say ‘Let me go to school so I can get a job to go to some of these places again’.”
For more information or to donate, contact Tom Legan at (408)465-6679.
For more information or to donate, contact Tom Legan at (408)465-6679.
