Six Individuals Complete the USA Boxing Gold Level Coaching Certification Pilot Course

USA Boxing is excited to announce the six recipients of its Gold Level pilot coaching certification, which took place Jan. 12-18, at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. All six of the individuals that participated in the pilot course passed their certification test, marking a 100-percent pass rate for this certification class.

Edward Fonteneaux, Danilo Garcia, Gilberto Garza, Julia Gschwind, Jonathan Pramas and Eric Zimmerman are the six individuals to pass the USA Boxing Gold Level certification pilot course, which was led by the USA Boxing High Performance team, including USA Boxing National Head Coach, Billy Walsh, and National Resident Coah, TJ Nolan. Additionally, USA Boxing Assistant High Performance Director and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jose Polanco, National Team Athletic Trainer, Maddie Kalke, and National Team Dietitian, Taylor Maggio, led training within their respective fields throughout the course.

“After eight years of developing USA Boxing’s revamped coaching education program, we are excited to have completed this pilot course for the Gold Level certification, which will be the top educational level for USA Boxing coaching members,” said Matt Johnson, USA Boxing Director of High Performance. “We thank the six coaches who participated in this pilot course and provided valuable feedback on the curriculum before it is officially launched with the first course open to USA Boxing membership in March.”

USA Boxing will host its first official Gold Level coaching certification course March 9-16, 2025, at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. The course will highlight preparation of athletes for international competitions and will serve as a pathway for coaches to become eligible to work with USA Boxing’s High Performance Teams.

Entry into the gold level certification is an application-based process, as each clinic will have a maximum capacity of eight coaches/participants. The coaches who are selected will be invited to Colorado Springs to learn from USA Boxing’s National Coaches and High Performance staff on topics such as international competition tactics, strength and conditioning, nutrition, injury prevention, maintenance and more.

USA Boxing will hold three Gold level certification clinics in 2025 that will each be one week in length. The cost of the clinic is $1,000/person, which includes housing and meals at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center for the week. Flights to Colorado Springs are not included and will be the responsibility of the registered participants/coaches.

The application for the Gold Certification held in March will remain open until February 4th, 2025, at 5 p.m. MT. Payment for registration will be required if your application is approved.

To be eligible to take the Gold Level certification course, coaches must complete the following prerequisites:

• USA Boxing Silver level Certification

• USA Boxing Nutrition Certification: LINKED HERE

• USA Boxing Strength and Conditioning Certification: LINKED HERE

To begin your application, please follow the instructions below:

• Go to usaboxingeducation.org

• Sign in using your membership login (if you membership is not current, you will not have access to the website)

• Select the coaches tab from the menu options

• The gold application page will only be available if you meet all 3 requirements

For any additional questions regarding the USA Boxing Gold Level coaching certification course, please reach out USA Boxing Coaching Education Coordinator Kammara Penick at kpenick@usaboxing.org.