Damien Hooper will box for Australia at the Youth Olympic Games in August and he owes it all to a policeman who saved him from a life of crime.
Damien Hooper will box for Australia at the Youth Olympic Games in August and he owes it all to a policeman who saved him from a life of crime.
Born and raised in Dalby in country Queensland, Hooper was given a choice, jail or boxing. He chose the latter.
“I grew up in a small country town and I suppose I was bit of a street kid,” Hooper said.
“I got into trouble with the police a fair bit. That was all until this one policeman picked me up and started to show me the better way to life. He got me into boxing and gave me a second chance – which is why I’m now the second best in the world.”
The AIS scholarship holder had his life touched by an unlikely source – a policeman named Chris Seng – who now acts as Hooper’s coach, role model and friend.
“I’m doing really well and it’s all because of him really, I’m on my way, I’m going to be great but had it not been for him, I would have been in jail ... now we’re the best of friends.”
These days he is one of the best young boxers in Australia. He has made a name for himself on the international boxing circuit, claiming silver at the 2010 World Championships in the junior under 75kg division.
As an indigenous athlete, Hooper, 17, hopes to use his selection at the Youth Olympics to expand the possibilities for young indigenous sportspeople throughout Australia after boxing helped him narrowly avoid a life on the wrong side of the tracks.
Hooper said it was easy to ignore troubled youths until it was too late. He said the most difficult and important job for any person in a position of influence was to give people a chance to change.
“That’s the message I want to push – that people have to be given a chance – luckily I was and I’m doing well.
“I’ve got so many mates from back home that had scholarships and they’ve walked away from that because there was no one keeping them on the right track and giving them a chance to change.
“It’s easy to just shut them off you know. “
Boxing has already taken Hooper to Cuba, through Asia and Europe, and all before his 18th birthday.
As well as the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, Hooper hopes to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. He is currently on the shadow squad and must win a bout on 4 July to secure his spot.
Hooper and Brett Mather are the only boxers selected to compete for Australia at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore from 14 to 26 August.
Boxing at the Youth Games is restricted to male fighters and is organised as a direct elimination competition, with 66 boxers competing in 11 weight categories, just six in each division. Competition will take place at Singapore’s International Convention Centre.
Elliot Woods
AOC