Alumni (old)
Mary Kate Vanecko '13 Shows Ramblers How to Fight Like A Girl
When Fulbright Scholar Mary Kate Vanecko ’13 arrived in South Africa in 2017 to teach English to high school students, she wasn’t certain if the boxing gloves she’d brought with her—remnants of her cross-training days on the varsity lacrosse team at College of the Holy Cross—would stir up much interest in her future students. But when she realized that sports options at the high school where she was teaching were limited, she unpacked the gloves and began a boxing program that became a wildly popular after school activity.
Vanecko quickly saw the impact of giving students an outlet and the importance of providing young people with an opportunity to express themselves, feel strong, learn a new skill and develop a passion.
“It’s inspiring how sports can bring people together,” says Vanecko. “I thought it was so incredible how in South Africa, I couldn’t speak the same language as some of the younger students, but we would still all box together.”
Vanecko was so inspired that, once back home in the United States, she founded the nonprofit Box United in 2019 to support the boxing community she helped to forge in South Africa. And it wasn’t long after that she hatched the idea for Fight Like a Girl (FLAG)—a cross-cultural exchange and boxing empowerment program for high school girls—and secured its funding through a Fulbright alumni grant in partnership with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town.
FLAG is a ten week intensive leadership development program that helps girls recognize their strength through boxing. The program runs at the same time in the U.S. and South Africa, now with modifications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Girls participate in two sessions a week: one focused on boxing and one focused on leadership development.
"While it is unexpected for young women to be boxers, we have seen that, after training like fighters, girls are better able to envision themselves achieving other unimaginable things," Vanecko says. "FLAG is fiercely committed to using the sport of boxing to help girls become leaders in life."
In April, Vanecko hosted an in-person FLAG event for over twenty Ramblers in the West Gym at Loyola Academy. These students had been virtually learning boxing mechanics over Zoom for six months prior to the in-person workshop, which was led by Kale Blessum, Hadley So On, Rosario Ayubar, Emily Chamberlan and Zay Urooj—female boxing coaches from across the city who compete in boxing and martial arts.
“This was an amazing event that allowed us to further our mission of using boxing to help girls recognize their strength and transfer that strength into other areas of their lives,” says Vanecko.
Loyola Academy Social Studies Teacher Callie Cummings, who graduated from Holy Cross two year before Vanecko, helped bring the FLAG program to LA. In addition, fellow Loyola Academy alumna Sofi Torres-Kennedy ’17, who also graduates from Holy Cross this spring, worked on the FLAG program as a student intern.
When she was a student at Loyola, Vanecko spent three years on the varsity lacrosse team and was involved in student council, ministry and the Pax Christi program—experiences she calls formative in her passion for social justice, her interest in politics and government and her competitive nature.
“So much of our program ties back to lessons I learned at Loyola. When I worked with partners to develop our curriculum, I always came back to the idea of cura personalis,” she says. “While we are primarily a boxing program, our leadership development lessons cover a variety of topics from mindfulness to social media and body image. The program starts with several lessons on care of self and then extends to care of community and world.”
This fall Fight Like a Girl is launching a Middle School program for 6-8th grade girl. To learn more and get involved, visit Box United and Fight Like a Girl online.
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