FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- A trio of Fort Jackson athletes are headed to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, next week to try out for spots on the All-Army Boxing team.
Marvin Carey and Marcus Dorval are competing for spots on the team as fighters, while April Moreland-Beason is looking to add her coaching skills to the All-Army roster.
The ultimate goal of the boxers attending the training sessions at Fort Huachuca is to qualify for the Olympic Games.
"I think both will win," Moreland-Beason said of her fighters. "I believe Carey will win all of the championships they put in front of him. If he does enter the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, he'd be an asset to the Army's team and help them make it to the Olympics in 2020."
Moreland-Beason has been in the ring for eight years, but had already put her own career as a fighter behind her when she arrived at Fort Jackson. For the last three years she's been coaching amateur fighters on post.
"I've learned a lot from the guys who have come through the units," she said. "I've coached more than 45 Soldiers and about eight of them have been successful outside of the Army and Fort Jackson's team. My biggest accomplishment is Lt. Kendall Harris, who made it to WCAP's team. I see Marcus Dorval and Marvin Carey doing the same thing."
Carey, 33, a native of Chicago, has been fighting since he was a 17-year-old high school student.
"I wanted to be able to fight someone without repercussions," he said jokingly. "Within a couple of months my coach told me he thought I had some potential in it."
The opportunity to play sports is one of the reasons he joined the military, Carey said.
"Boxing is a way I can keep physical fitness fun," he said. "You come in here (to the gym) and do the same thing every day -- you run and lift weights -- and that gets boring after a while. (Boxing) always keeps you on your toes because you don't want the next person to be better than you."
He said he's been encouraged to become a professional boxer, but wants to reach a particular goal before leaving the Army behind.
"I want to see if I can be the best in the Army," he said. "I found the All-Army program, submitted my application and they said yes ... the rest is history."
"I never want to be arrogant or sound too cocky, but I'm confident that I'll do well," said Dorval, 30, a native of Newark, New Jersey. "I'm going to give it my all. It depends on how much experience the other fighters have in my weight class ... but experience doesn't mean things are going to go your way. Sometimes you need heart, and I definitely have the heart."
All-Army tryouts begin Aug. 26 and last until early October, and Moreland-Beason said the training is going to be tough.
"It's four to six weeks of constantly beating up the body," she said. "I tried out as a fighter before, but now I'm trying out as coach -- it's a different mindset now."
Carey said that Moreland-Beason's skills and experience provide them with a definite advantage.
"She definitely listens and works with me on my style," he said. "She's not one of those coaches that has a set style in mind and tries to train every fighter to do that. She looks at your style and works with what you have. That's what I think makes her a good coach."
"She definitely helped me bring my boxing game to a whole new level," Dorval said. "Before I met her, I didn't even have the basics of boxing down. She helped me elevate my game ... she's got the qualities to be a great coach for WCAP."
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