Police officers to fight for the children

Rotorua constable Dustin Buckley is competing in the Station of Origin event on Saturday to raise money for kids in the community. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

There was a time, when joining the police seemed impossible for Constable Dustin Buckley, but now the 34-year-old father of two, is one of 11 Rotorua police officers competing in the Station of Origin fight night event this weekend.

"I've always wanted to join the police, but when I was younger, I couldn't because of my eyesight and I didn't have the finance behind me for corrective surgery, so it fell over," he says.

"It wasn't until my best friend graduated, that it reignited the spark. I was in a better financial position, and I thought I've just got to do it. I've been operational for two and a half years now."

Dustin says when he was approached about participating in Station of Origin, to raise money to cover the cost of training 40 local kids at the Rotovegas Boxing Gym, he was glad to help.

"I asked what it was for and they said it's to raise money for kids, and I said that's good enough for me."

Rotovegas Boxing Gym owner Aaron Warren says, they are dedicated to training youth.
"We are extremely passionate about our kids. We take great pleasure in transferring all the disciplines behind the sport of boxing to our children, and allowing them to feel like they are a part of our big family," he says.

"At present, we have over 100 members training at our facility, 20 of those members are registered boxers who compete all over the North Island. We have currently trained 36 New Zealand national champions and New Zealand representatives. We train our kids free of charge and will continue to provide passion, commitment and consistency for them. This is something we will never change."

Tauranga's Rob Lemoto, a television presenter on Police Ten 7, had been involved in Station of Origin events in Auckland and decided it would be a good idea to replicate the concept in the Bay of Plenty, so he got together with Rotorua Constable Levae Sililo who made it happen.

Station of Origin consists of 12 fights pairing Rotorua police with other officers from around the Bay of Plenty, and one professional feature fight - the professional debut of Rotorua's Tyrone Warren.

"There are seven mens fights and five womens. We are paired up on weight, experience and age, and 11 out of 12 of our team are from Rotorua, with one from Tokoroa," says Dustin.

"Our opponents are from Whakatane, Tauranga and Te Puke."

Dustin says too many kids fall by the wayside, which is why he is committed to setting a good example in his community role.

"They're our future, so I'm happy to help with anything that can benefit them. Given my unique position of being a policeman and being in the public eye, I think it helps to raise a good profile, that we aren't just these machines. We have families of our own and we care about the community," he says.

Dustin says there are a lot of good skills to learn through boxing.

"Boxing is a very technical sport. It's very controlled. These kids that are going to go through the training will learn discipline, structure and time management. And that's what life's about really. Whatever job you have, there's structure and rules and guidelines that you have to abide by."

Station of Origin will be held at Rotorua Girls' High School on Saturday May 16 from 6.30pm.

Tickets for general admission are on sale now through Ticketmaster or contact Tanya on (027) 548 2692 or rvbgfightnight@hotmail.com.