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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n . Former professional boxer and exceptional athlete, Anthony Costa (Costa) has a heart of gold and is always looking for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1211,"parent":0,"menu_order":48,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"state":[],"class_list":["post-1210","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1216,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1210\/revisions\/1216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/qld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/state?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Former professional boxer and exceptional athlete, Anthony Costa (Costa) has a heart of gold and is always looking for ways to help people.
First reaching out to DSQ in 2019, Costa wanted to give back to the community by helping people with Down syndrome get active and improve their fitness. Shortly after reaching out to DSQ, Costa met Dominic, who lives with Down syndrome, and both have not looked back since teaming up.
Family and friends\u2019 say Dom\u2019s improvements in fitness and agility have been phenomenal, which has helped get Dom in prime condition for the upcoming special Olympics, where he is competing in gymnastics. After going to Costa\u2019s gym for almost two years, Dominic is very proud of his fitness and is never shy in showing anyone and everyone at the gym his \u201c big muscles\u201d. A gymnast since age 4, Dominic\u2019s mother says \u201cbeing fit and healthy is very important to him, so when he was given the opportunity to train with Costa, he jumped at it. Boxing compliments Dom’s gymnastics training as it helps to strengthen Dom\u2019s fitness and improve his muscle tone. She encourages \u201canyone thinking about improving their fitness to definitely give boxing with Costa a shot!\u201d
Costa believes that \u201cboxing is a great way to create inclusion, improve fitness, balance, and hand eye-coordination. Time at the gym is about movement, activity and working up a sweat in a supportive environment.\u201d In the recent weeks, Costa has taken on a new athlete at the Box-On gym in Banyo. Currently 14, Xavier has always had a keen interest in sport and fitness and, when offered the opportunity to box with Costa, was enthusiastic to give it a go. Xavier was welcomed with open arms and immediately made to feel relaxed and comfortable in the gym. Xavier \u201cabsolutely loved\u201d his first session and can\u2019t wait to go back.
When asked about his thoughts regarding the need for inclusivity in the sport of boxing, Costa replied, \u201cOne of our missions at Box-On Boxing and Fitness is to spread our knowledge to as many people as possible through inclusion. Inclusion for people with (or without) disabilities is friendship skills, peer models, problem solving skills, positive self-image, and respect for others. This can trickle down to their families as well, teaching parents and families to be more accepting of differences\u201d.
We are proud to have Costa as part of our community at Down Syndrome Queensland and would like to congratulate him for the work he is doing to promote inclusivity.
If you or someone you know would like to learn more about Costa and his gym, visit @box_on_boxing on Facebook or Instagram.
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