First Posted: 3/31/2015
LIMA — If it weren’t for boxing, Lonnie Rettig would have followed in the footsteps of his father’s side of the family — in prison.
Most of the males on his father’s side are incarcerated, Rettig said, something he knew he didn’t want for himself. He credits the array of coaches who showed him guidance through the years for staying out from behind bars.
Rettig, the featured speaker at the Lima Noon Sertoma’s meeting on Tuesday, was also surprised when he was awarded the Service to Mankind Award from the club.
The award, the highest that can be given out to a non-member, features a volunteer’s service to the community, which can come in many forms.
“What I got from my coaches growing up, I didn’t get from my dad,” Rettig said. “I knew coaching is where I should be. … I knew I had to give back to kids.”
For 21 years, Rettig has trained young men and women for the competitive world of boxing. Rettig owns the South Side Spartans Facility in Lima, where he has 43 boxers.
The facility strives to create supportive relationships, spiritual guidance and positive exposures to area children, said Erin Hardestry of the Lima Noon Sertoma Club.
As his accomplishments were rattled off one by one, Rettig became emotional.
“I’ve never heard it said that way, so excuse me,” he said.
“I’m feeling very humble. I think the whole experience, and hearing someone say my accomplishments in an open and public setting, really caught me off-guard,” he added. “Normally I’m a little tougher than that but, it’s just a humbling experience.”
As a child, Rettig grew alongside his boxing talent. As he learned more about the sport, he learned more about himself as an adult, he said. “Even as I started coaching, I started to learn more about myself and some of the things I wanted to instill in other kids,” he said.
He is now taking what he has learned through his experience and is preparing some of his students for the junior Olympics and other national and regional competitions.
As students graduate out of the program — typically in their early 20s, Rettig is always looking forward to the next group of boxers to come through.
“These kids, they’re at the level where they’re going to compete at the national level every year,” he said.
