Latest / Spinning the Light Podcast / Angel Levering; Going for Gold

Transcript

Angel Levering; Going for Gold · Spinning the Light Podcast

0:04
Hello and welcome to two girls in a pod I'm.
0:06
Sharon, I'm Christy. And we're excited today to have
0:10
another guest on. Today we have Angel Levering and
0:14
one of the reasons we wanted to kind of know more about angels
0:17
because she is a boxer and she is, I want to make sure I get
0:23
the tribe that you are affiliated with is the Sioux.
0:27
Yeah, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
0:30
OK, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Is that where you're from?
0:33
Yeah. Where do you go to school at?
0:36
You're also in college, correct? Yeah, I go to school in Bismarck
0:40
at United Tribes Technical College, which is 80 miles north
0:46
of Sandy Rock. So like Sandy Rock is like the
0:50
most of Sandy Rock is 40 eights. And that's where I kind of grew
0:54
up. OK, so.
0:57
Obviously when I say go to school, you are in college and
0:59
you're in a Technical College. Yeah.
1:02
What are you going to college for?
1:04
I T Information Technology. Okay.
1:08
Now are you close to the end of it or just starting it?
1:10
I just started. I just finished my first some
1:13
like 2 semesters, so going into my second or my third.
1:20
So not only are you a student and a boxer, but you're also a
1:25
mom of three. Yeah, and how old are your kids?
1:29
They're 4/2 and he's four months.
1:34
Oh my, that's a lot of little ones.
1:37
That's a handful. That's a full.
1:39
Time, yeah. How on earth do you balance all
1:43
that? I have no idea.
1:46
I just try to stay busy. I don't know.
1:49
I do take care of myself to take care of like everything else.
1:54
When you say you take care of yourself because we're so big
1:56
about that, you know, we're always telling everybody you got
1:58
to take care of yourself first before you can take care of
2:00
everybody else. What is it that you like to do
2:02
that is about taking care of you?
2:04
Well, I feel like boxing kind of has like half of it, but I also
2:09
take time to like do counseling and stuff like that, that she
2:15
has me like do meditations and stuff like that.
2:19
So I try to do those. How did you get into boxing and
2:26
how long and involved with it? Going on like 7 years, 6-7
2:31
years, but in between then I've had my kids, so I don't know how
2:35
much that is. Like I started, I didn't have
2:39
kids, but now I have to. Well, I guess you gotta have to
2:44
pause for the kids, right? Yeah.
2:47
So you did fight in May, correct?
2:50
Yeah. But.
2:52
You had your baby. I had a baby in February 23rd
2:56
and. Then you boxed in May.
3:00
Yeah, yeah. What on earth possessed you to
3:04
do that? Because that's a really that's,
3:06
you know, I mean when you have for these, it's usually a little
3:09
bit longer than that, so. Well, it was like I trained
3:14
through my pregnancy and before like well, like I was training
3:18
before my pregnancy. So I just didn't stop training.
3:22
So I didn't feel like it would be that hard and it wasn't I it
3:26
was actually went really smoothly.
3:28
So I wouldn't have done if it was like really bad.
3:32
How did you do on that fight? Yeah.
3:34
I was a little bit slower than normal because obviously I just
3:38
had the baby, so yeah. Are you scheduled to fight again
3:43
soon or? My next one is I think at the
3:47
end of July. OK, but the big one that we're
3:51
working towards is the Last Chance Qualifier, which is do
3:56
you guys know like about boxing? Yeah, so like they have like the
4:02
Olympic Trials this year. So my coach is like really on me
4:06
about you can only do this every so often, like 4 years.
4:09
So he wants me to do it now. So how much more pressure is
4:14
that for you? It's a lot.
4:17
I feel like, but I also can't let that be like my life, you
4:21
know? Like if something happens, it's
4:24
meant to happen that way. Or just like don't be too hard
4:28
on myself I guess for boxing because I have other things too,
4:33
like 3. Like 3 little ones.
4:35
Yeah. Little ones, school, you know,
4:37
little things like that. So when you say this, what does
4:41
your schedule look like when you're training?
4:43
I usually just train. Pretty much every day.
4:47
Like there's some, like the weekends, I probably don't train
4:51
as much, but pretty much every day that I can.
4:54
Now, who coaches you? Who are your coaches and and who
4:57
do you fight? Do you have like a specific gym
5:00
you fight out of or something like that?
5:02
Yeah, it's the gym out of McLaughlin, South Dakota.
5:04
So it's part of Sandy Rock as well.
5:07
And it's like the South part of Sandy Rock and it's the only
5:12
boxing gym that we have on. Sandy Rock, so.
5:18
And my coach is Gary Ortley and we don't have, like I'm the only
5:24
boxer right now. Yeah so when it first started it
5:30
was like a lot like a lot of people would box.
5:33
But now nowadays it's only so few.
5:37
Like I'm the only one that's been staying so.
5:41
The other girl, Destiny Cameron, she is also a champion as well
5:45
out of Sandy Rock. She's out right now too, because
5:49
she's pregnant. So my coach teases me about
5:53
that. He's like, she's falling in
5:55
someone's footsteps and I'm like, sorry.
6:01
So is it your goal to Is that what you want to do is find the
6:05
Olympics, boxing the Olympics? Yeah, I mean.
6:09
It wasn't my ultimate goal as an like starting boxing, because I
6:14
thought the ultimate goal was to be a pro and win like world
6:19
champion, stuff like that. So the Olympics was just kind of
6:23
like a, oh, I can do that. Like, oh, that's like, you know,
6:27
it's an option. Like if I work hard, I can do
6:29
that. So it wasn't like the ultimate.
6:32
Goal. OK.
6:34
What weight division do you find in?
6:36
That's I guess is another important thing.
6:39
Well, I started in the heavier weight, but now I boxed in the
6:43
165 female. Do you feel like you're stronger
6:47
than that weight or? Yeah, I feel like it's more
6:51
because I fought at the higher weights and it felt like I was a
6:56
lot quicker than those ones. So I felt like it was like, I
6:59
wouldn't say too easy, but like my pace was a little bit faster
7:03
than. OK.
7:04
So and then these, the ones that 165 are way, way harder and
7:09
worth training for and stuff like that.
7:13
That sounds like you like a challenge.
7:15
Yeah. So in the time that you've done
7:20
this, you fought in the Golden Gloves, right?
7:24
Yeah, in. 2021. Yeah.
7:27
OK, talk a little bit about that.
7:29
What does that mean for people who don't know what much about
7:32
boxing? Well, like the Golden Gloves, So
7:35
they have like regions and it's kind of like throughout the
7:39
United States. So you get like the upper
7:42
Midwest, which is like Minnesota and North Dakota, areas like
7:46
that. And then there's the Midwest and
7:49
I fought out of the Midwest that year for a Nebraska, part of
7:53
South Dakota, Iowa like places like that.
7:56
And so they have those throughout the whole world and
7:59
then you got to win in your region.
8:01
So I won. The state Golden Gloves out of
8:04
Omaha in Omaha and then so when you win, that's why it's called
8:09
the tournament of Champions is because you have to win a
8:13
champion. So I won the state tournament
8:17
for Golden Gloves. So then all the Champions go to
8:20
National Golden Gloves and that's where you kind of get
8:25
like. We fight all the Champions and
8:28
there wasn't much in mind, so that's why that's also one of
8:32
the reasons is to go lower to lower weight.
8:36
So there was only me and another girl and we didn't fight until
8:39
championships, so I was there for like a week not fighting and
8:46
just waiting for our fight to come up, so.
8:50
So going down in weight was more for.
8:55
There's more competition so you're not going to fight the
8:57
same person over and over. Yeah.
9:00
Okay makes sense. What is the process to find out
9:03
if you're If you make the Olympics, what do you have to do
9:05
to make the Olympics? So to make the Olympics you have
9:09
to win a championship. So like Golden Gloves was one of
9:13
them. So if you won in your way, you
9:16
automatically get to go. I think it's the 1st and 2nd, so
9:19
the 1st and 2nd both can go. But if you win or if you already
9:27
are in the to go to the Olympic qualifier, you don't get to
9:33
fight in like anymore of the like the Last Chance qualifier
9:36
or like other tournaments. So it gives like everyone a
9:41
chance, which is good. So that's why.
9:45
So you're now trying to qualify in the 165?
9:48
Yeah, OK. OK.
9:51
And so that's why you'll fight in the end of July.
9:54
So that one is I think the beginning of September.
9:58
OK. September 9th through the 16th
10:00
or something like that. And now where does that take
10:02
place at? In Pueblo, I think Pueblo, New
10:07
Mexico. Oh, OK.
10:09
I didn't know there was a Pueblo, New Mexico.
10:11
I didn't either, I was going to say.
10:12
Or wherever Pueblo is. It in Pueblo.
10:16
Pueblo OK, yeah. He said it was New Mexico and
10:19
then he's like Pueblo and I'm like, that's in New Mexico, but
10:23
yeah. Well, it sounds like it's kind
10:26
of cool. So you'll have fights up too
10:29
then? Yeah.
10:31
And is that just more for you to as part of the the training
10:35
thing or? Yeah, I mean, they have fights
10:38
like kind of all over the place where you can put your name in
10:42
there. If you get a fight, then you get
10:44
a fight. But they're just regular
10:45
competition fights like. They're not big tournaments or
10:48
anything like that. So as an amateur, so you don't
10:51
make money off being an amateur, right.
10:53
So that's. No, a lot of people want to
10:55
become political, correct. Yeah, I can see that.
11:00
But I mean, having going to the Olympics, that would be like an
11:02
amazing thing as well, you know? Yeah.
11:06
To just be. Part of right?
11:09
And then to win, it would even be better.
11:11
Yeah, just to even, like, get that chance is like really cool
11:14
too. What do you feel confident in
11:17
it? Do you feel like you have the
11:19
ability, the skill and the determination to make that
11:23
happen? Yeah, I feel like as a mom and
11:27
like with all the stuff that I do, I kind of like let myself
11:34
not get too confident about it because I know that I can't
11:37
train as hard or. As much as I need to to know
11:42
that because I know I can like my body, can.
11:45
I know my body can I know I can, but can like my life like the
11:51
rest of my life. As well, if that makes sense.
11:53
Yeah. So you allow yourself that grace
11:56
to know that you have other irons in the fire and you're
11:58
still so. Yeah.
12:00
That makes sense. Well, I think it's always hard
12:02
to find that work, balance, family, you know, all of those
12:06
things that go into that balance that we have in life and and
12:11
then having a dream or a goal and and you're right, if you
12:14
didn't have kids or maybe even college, then it'd be very easy
12:18
for you to train as much as you wanted to.
12:21
I usually just take the kiddos to the gym with you.
12:23
Get them started young. Yeah, they do come to the gym
12:26
with me though. Like, OK.
12:30
Why did you get into boxing? It was in McLaughlin here, and I
12:33
just graduated high school and this was in 2017 and it was just
12:40
like the summer time. I wasn't doing anything.
12:44
I just skateboarded around town. I just didn't.
12:47
I wasn't doing anything. Like I didn't know what to do.
12:50
I know that. OK, you get a job after high
12:53
school. And so, like, that was like what
12:55
I was doing. And then my brother was like,
12:58
you should come to the gym with me.
12:59
And I'm like, I grew up like, I wasn't athletic.
13:02
So to everyone being me being a boxer is like, so weird.
13:07
They're just like, what, Angel the boxer?
13:10
Well, yeah, Like, I didn't really do sports in high school.
13:13
I was kind of like the quiet girl, like, Shy just kept
13:17
myself. I was smart, basically a nerd.
13:20
And yeah, so my brother's like, you should come to the gym with
13:24
me. And I'm like, OK, sure.
13:27
He's like, yeah, it's pretty fun.
13:28
And then I was like, OK and he's like my younger brother.
13:30
He's like 2 years younger than me.
13:32
And I ended up going and so he's like, just do it.
13:35
Just hit the bag. And I I just hit the bag.
13:38
And I was good at it. I was just like, naturally good
13:40
at it. Hi.
13:42
And he's like, the coach was like, you should come back
13:45
tomorrow because he didn't really care at first, you know,
13:48
like people come to the gym, come and go.
13:50
If you're serious, you'll keep coming back.
13:52
So I kept coming back, kept coming back, and pretty soon he
13:55
started coaching me. And for a little bit, me and my
13:58
brother boxed together. Like we went to tournaments
14:01
together. And then eventually everyone
14:04
just started leaving and it was just a couple of us and me and
14:08
Destiny. Me and Destiny are like the last
14:10
two ones that have been boxing, so now it's just me for now.
14:15
What about your brother? What happened to him?
14:18
Yeah. Life.
14:19
Life. You stop boxing and you kept
14:22
boxing. Yeah, I kept boxing.
14:25
Awesome. You know, I think sometimes we
14:27
just fall into things, you know? And and oftentimes I think when
14:30
you don't realize that you have a gift for something, you know
14:35
what I mean? And then it's just like you find
14:37
it on a whim and it sounds like that's kind of what happened to
14:40
you. Yeah.
14:42
You know, I'm the I'm just kind of the little nerdy person.
14:46
I don't do these things. And then.
14:48
Here you are boxing, so I understand who I confuse people.
14:54
Well, especially and and that kind of thing.
14:57
Yeah, so my uncle. So I started Sun dancing, which
15:01
is something in the the Lakotas do which for their culture and I
15:07
didn't have an Indian name. So I asked my uncle if he could
15:11
help me with that and he his story is like.
15:15
For my Indian name is. It's her true self is what my
15:19
Indian name is. So his story is that it's
15:23
because I like. He says my true self comes out
15:26
whenever I'm boxing. Nice.
15:29
That makes sense. Yeah, because I'm so quiet,
15:32
like. Angel.
15:34
Yeah. The true self levering.
15:38
Would that be correct? Well, my Indian name.
15:41
So like it wouldn't be with your other name.
15:45
But is your other name? Is it in English?
15:49
It's in Lakota as well. OK.
15:51
And what is it in Lakota? It's Itaksha Ichiyawi, so it
15:56
just means you're true so oh. Nice.
15:59
OK, so when did you start Sundance?
16:03
I started it last year. OK, so that was last year.
16:07
Then he gave it to me like 3 months before Sundance, which is
16:12
in June. OK, one of my clients just went
16:15
to Sundance in Oklahoma. So yeah.
16:20
Doing Sundance so because Sundance is very important to
16:24
you guys. Yeah.
16:26
What is it about? It wasn't really important in my
16:30
family until it was back when I was younger, but so nobody was
16:36
doing it, nobody does it anymore, My family doesn't go
16:41
and. So when I had kids that it was
16:44
like I was always interested, I was always questioning about it.
16:48
Well, I need to learn my culture more for my kids so they can
16:52
know my know the culture as well.
16:54
So I started questioning about it and I eventually just started
16:58
dancing. So last year was my first year
17:02
and then I went this year too, so.
17:05
Oh wow. So what does it do for you?
17:09
Go to Sundance and why is it important?
17:12
I guess it's just for like prayers for your like family,
17:17
your family, everyone else to anything going on.
17:20
I feel like it helps you. For me personally like just gets
17:24
through the year you have that to look forward to, to you know
17:27
just to have that those four days of doing that and just
17:32
praying, just sacrificing and praying because if you believe
17:37
in prayer like how people's say then it's really good.
17:42
I believe in prayer, so yeah. It sounds like it nourishes your
17:47
soul. Yeah.
17:49
OK. So do you think that you being a
17:52
participant in Sundance will draw your family into it again?
17:57
Yeah, I pray want like one of my biggest things that I hope for
18:02
is that my family will meet me along the way because I plan to
18:06
do it, you know, for the rest of my life.
18:09
If if I can. But.
18:12
I want my kids to do it. And not just Sundance, but just
18:15
being involved in the Lakota things.
18:21
Now, how old do you have to be to participate in Sundance?
18:25
Are your kids there yet? While the youngest one when I
18:28
started, she was 5 and you know she was there this year again.
18:33
So she's 6 and there was these little 3 year old boys running
18:38
around that they're just they were.
18:41
You know, acting like they were sun dancing too.
18:43
And it was so cute, Awesome. So I definitely know that next
18:47
year I'll probably put my daughter as a pipe holder and
18:52
that would be good. What?
18:54
Does that mean? For people who?
18:55
Don't. So the pipe holder you have like
18:57
the dancers, which are they sacrifice the food and water
19:02
like they don't drink food and water they give up and then this
19:06
the pipe holders they are. Girls, they're little girls that
19:10
haven't hit their time yet, so they take turns holding the pipe
19:16
each round, each Sundance round, so there's like 8 rounds in a
19:20
day, so they just take turns all holding pipe.
19:24
Well, you would think if you can go four days without eating or
19:27
drinking and dancing, that boxing would be pretty easy.
19:30
Yeah. I mean, that's like the hard
19:35
part too is like it's actually. Really hard to do the 40s.
19:41
It's actually really hard. That's what I hear.
19:44
I. Would think so.
19:45
Yeah. Well, and I think The thing is,
19:48
is that it's interesting to me that, you know, the culture was
19:52
there, but it wasn't important until you had your own kids.
19:54
And I think that often times people find that they want to be
19:57
able to enrich their kids life and sometimes it is through
20:01
culture. And you know, the Native
20:03
American culture, it's slowly, you know, people are slowly
20:06
getting away from it and stuff like that.
20:07
I know that there's the Sundance and I mean they do a whole bunch
20:10
of different things like that. But I think that to teach your
20:14
kids that culture kind of keeps it alive for that next
20:17
generation. And like you said you, I don't
20:20
know if you see, do you see a lot of people still
20:23
participating in Sundance? Yeah.
20:26
OK, good. A lot of young people like my
20:29
age as well, like so. The Sundance I go to, he's
20:33
passing it down to his nephew who is my age.
20:36
So he's been leading the past couple years, which is really,
20:41
like, it's really cool to me because it's, you know, I've,
20:44
that's my classmate. I went to school with this kid,
20:46
like he's leading the Sundance. Like that's really cool.
20:50
Wow, how fun. And congratulations to him.
20:53
That's that's quite an honor. Yeah.
20:56
Well, and do you only and so you participate only in this
21:00
Sundance then? Yeah, this one, because the
21:05
reason for me is because it was the one my family's did back in
21:09
the day as well. My uncle knew the guy that runs
21:12
it and my auntie is, and I don't know what they are to me, but my
21:18
family, they all, we're all, yeah.
21:25
Well, and I think that's the thing that's kind of cool is
21:28
anytime you have that family connection and and you know, as
21:31
Christie said, it kind of replenishes your soul and stuff.
21:35
And anytime we can do those things, they help us mentally.
21:39
I think sometimes, you know, you talked a little bit about doing
21:42
meditation and stuff and I think that we're not taking care of
21:44
ourselves in the way that we really should.
21:46
And I mean, the better you take care of yourself, the more
21:49
effective parent you become. The more effective you become, I
21:53
think, in all aspects. Once again, I think that, you
21:57
know, still taking care of yourself is really important and
22:00
that you're learning to master that little bit.
22:02
And it sounds like Sundance is the biggest piece of that
22:05
because it does kind of give you that thing for a little
22:09
energized for the year. Do you think that because it is
22:13
a sacrifice and when you look at boxing, you have to sacrifice
22:17
some stuff even to do boxing? Do you know what I mean?
22:22
What do you think is the biggest sacrifice for you?
22:25
When it comes to boxing. A lot of like time.
22:29
But I could when I first had my baby, my second baby, I felt I
22:34
was having that like postpartum, you know, like kind of sad
22:37
phase. And I was like, well, I feel
22:40
like I'm not spending enough time with my babies.
22:43
And then I would take a week off.
22:46
Then I'm like, I feel like boxing helps me, you know, like
22:48
I feel really, you know, really like I need to let this out, you
22:52
know, like and then so. They said it was, I was still
22:56
with my counselor and she's like, you know, it's it's OK to
22:58
like feel that way. You're taking that time for
23:01
yourself. That's like going to class, you
23:03
know, two hours, you know, don't feel bad if it helps you.
23:07
And I'm like, OK, so. That's something that everybody
23:10
struggles with is balance, I think, but it's really.
23:13
Yeah. I don't think it is.
23:17
And I think The thing is, is that we also don't promote the
23:20
importance of doing that and being okay with understanding.
23:23
You're going to have mixed feelings about it because
23:26
there's that push as a parent is, well, you're supposed to be
23:28
there taking care of your kids, but at the same time, you can't
23:32
go to school and do the boxing. And you know what?
23:35
You're a parent 24 hours a day anyway.
23:38
But you don't present 24 hours a day, you know what I mean?
23:43
So I think that's the difference with it, you know, I mean, it's
23:47
not often we get people who readily admit that they see a
23:50
counselor. Why was that important for you?
23:53
I don't know. I feel like it's good if, like,
23:56
it's a good thing that people see people, even if it's just to
24:01
vent or like because I grew up. Seeing her my whole life
24:07
basically since middle school, I don't know if that changes
24:12
things, but yeah. Well, absolutely.
24:16
I mean, I've seen kiddos. My Wendy's getting ready to
24:19
graduate this year. I started with him in middle
24:21
school, so excited for him. But there is, I think when you
24:26
you start younger, sometimes it gives you those skill sets and I
24:31
think one of the things we. I'm as me as a therapist.
24:33
What I do is I try to teach people to slow everything down
24:37
as part of that meditation thing.
24:39
And I'm guessing when you're doing Sundance, that's what's
24:41
going to happen too, because of not eating and drinking and
24:45
that, that everything starts to slow down.
24:48
Yeah, especially humans too. Like you have social media now
24:53
and the people around you where it's like when you're in there,
24:57
you're just praying. You're just praying and then you
25:00
come out and it's like really a. I don't know.
25:04
It opens your eyes a little bit of how people are, how people
25:07
treat you. That's what I learned.
25:10
Like seeing this year. I didn't see it my first year,
25:12
but this year I it's like, help me right now spend my energy.
25:19
Like what I'm going to spend my energy on.
25:21
Well, I think you do. I think sometimes when you have
25:23
those moments where you get that clarity.
25:26
You know, I just tell people, sometimes we have to remember
25:28
that some people come in our lives for a small visit.
25:31
They're not there for permanent time period.
25:34
But sometimes they can go to those people or whatever, and
25:38
sometimes it no longer holds the same value in the relationship.
25:43
And I think you start to learn things when you have that
25:46
clarity of who am I even in our relationships, who are we going
25:49
to put energy into? Well, and I think that when you
25:53
have, when you take that time for that solace to be able to
25:57
have that clarity, I mean you really do have to slow things
26:00
down to be able to to get to that place.
26:04
So it sounds like Sundance does like a whole bunch of different
26:07
stuff for you. You know, as far as not only
26:11
nurturing the soul, but also helping you to step away and see
26:16
relationships, priorities and everything a little bit
26:19
different as well, right? Yeah.
26:22
So what do you want to do with your IT?
26:25
What is the goal with that? Well, the big goal is to work
26:29
for Google or something cool like that for like coding for
26:35
now, just having the degree in this day and age you can get
26:41
like pretty much any job. I think it's one of the highest
26:46
paying careers right now. And.
26:50
Mean you have to move out of your home state.
26:55
You don't even have to leave your home like.
26:58
Well, sometimes this. Is true.
27:00
But sometimes when you work for the bigger companies, maybe just
27:02
a little bit. Yeah.
27:05
That is kind of nice, huh? So who helps you out with the
27:08
kiddos? My mom My mom is the real MVP.
27:12
But no, At the beginning she babysat.
27:17
But. When I started at United Tribes,
27:21
they go to daycare and school. Oh, OK.
27:25
Nice and. So when I had my baby, they let
27:28
me bring him to class. So.
27:30
Oh, nice. Yeah.
27:32
Are you doing any summer classes or are you off for the summer?
27:37
Yeah, I'm in an internship that started in March and it goes
27:41
until August and I'm in that and then I take.
27:47
In English class for the summer, but they're online so.
27:50
OK, so you have your kiddos more during the summer.
27:55
Yeah. OK, because that you have that
27:59
down time. So what do you like to do when
28:01
you're not boxing or? Going.
28:03
To going to school or. Take care of kids.
28:08
I I feel like I never have the chance, but I don't know.
28:14
I get. I'm like, someone told me that I
28:17
am a fast person. Like I just, I'm always on the
28:20
go. I'm always trying to do
28:21
something. I'm always staying busy.
28:25
Sometimes I need to chill out, sometimes I need to just take a
28:31
breather. But I don't know, I go crazy.
28:35
Oh, so when you do take a breather, it's too much for you.
28:39
Yeah, I feel like, Oh my God, I'm, I'm behind.
28:41
I need to do something that. Something needs to be done.
28:46
Well, I guess that's when you can go to the gym.
28:49
Yeah. So if there's nobody in the gym
28:53
with you, who do you spar with? There's a guy that comes and
28:57
goes that will spar with me, but he's not a boxing like, he's not
29:02
a competitor like the amateur. He just comes and goes.
29:07
So that seems like that would make it a little bit difficult
29:10
not being able to truly. Spar with somebody at your
29:14
weight that you can. I don't know, it just seems like
29:16
that would be a little more difficult.
29:19
Yeah, it is. I don't get.
29:21
I feel like the most out of sparring, like the where all my
29:26
skills and stuff comes from has to come from like the technical
29:29
stuff. So like just moving around cones
29:33
or hitting the bag certain ways or.
29:37
We go to different places for sparring, like we'll have to
29:40
travel a couple hours at least to go get some decent sparring
29:46
with someone. I mean, it seems like, you know,
29:50
when as you're sitting here talking about this, it seems
29:52
like having this goal to be in the Olympics, it's like you're
29:57
starting. Like the starting line is 5
29:59
paces ahead of you. Everybody's 5 paces ahead of
30:02
you. Do you see what I mean?
30:04
Because it's like my exploring partner.
30:06
There's not really a whole lot of people in the gym.
30:08
I have to travel two hours. And you know, we have this guy
30:11
who kind of drops in and out that I can punch him a little
30:14
bit, but. Like today there's this.
30:19
He's a new coach that just started his like gym, I think
30:23
out of Newtown or Minot or somewhere.
30:27
And he's coming down today, so we'll be sparing.
30:30
He has a girl, I think she's a little bit bigger than me, so
30:34
that'll be good for me. OK, so when you spar what how
30:38
many rounds do you guys usually spar?
30:41
I spar as many rounds as I can possibly do so like it could be
30:46
anywhere from like 11:50. OK, OK.
30:50
So is your goal then after you win the Olympics to?
30:56
Go professional. Yeah, like I feel like if I
31:00
don't if whatever for the Olympic thing, for boxing, I
31:05
feel like I will focus a little bit on school.
31:08
I always say like I'm going to quit boxing and just do
31:11
weightlifting, just I'm just going to do weightlifting and.
31:15
But it's something that the goal right now is just the Olympics.
31:22
And then. Because with school and
31:24
everything, I want to secure a decent job so we can can save up
31:29
to. Because I know that I can just
31:31
go professional and make money. Win or lose, you make money.
31:36
So it's like, do I want to keep banging myself up or put my head
31:44
in the books? Well, the the the good thing is,
31:49
is you have a little bit of time to think about it.
31:51
But not only that. I think that sometimes when you
31:55
walk away from something in kind of like you said, when you're
31:58
not at the gym for a week, then you're there like, Oh my God, I
32:00
got to be at the gym. You know what I mean?
32:02
It sounds like it does something for you.
32:04
It's not just the boxing itself. It's not boxing to win.
32:08
It sounds like the backside of it is is that it truly brings
32:13
something to your life. Yeah, I do really have a big
32:17
passion for it. And I don't know why.
32:20
It's just something I've found along the way because I didn't
32:24
used to, like, be as disciplined.
32:27
You know, just whatever weight I weigh when I fight, then that's
32:32
what I'm gonna fight at. But my coach is like, if you're
32:36
serious, you know, you'll fight at a certain way, you'll
32:38
discipline yourself, you'll show up to practice, you'll run,
32:42
you'll do the work. And I'm like, OK.
32:45
I guess I'll try it. So I did it and it was like what
32:50
the results were, were really something to like, you know, it
32:54
got me excited. Well, if I'm good at it, why not
32:57
go all out so. Nice.
33:00
I mean, I think it's great that you have a coach that motivates
33:03
you in that way. And I think that's the biggest
33:05
thing is when we have that support behind us, you know?
33:08
Yeah, and my coach, he's like a little bit.
33:11
He always says he's getting older and he like.
33:14
He scares me sometimes when he's like, you know, I'm not going to
33:19
be here forever. And I I get like sad about it.
33:22
So not like sad, like physically sad.
33:25
I'm just like, you know, like it hits me sometimes, like he's not
33:28
going to be here someday. So he'll say that.
33:31
And then he's like, I need somebody to run the gym and
33:34
he'll like, he like, wants me to run the gym and wants me to take
33:38
over because it's a lot like, you know, to run the gym.
33:42
For like the bills and the things we need and.
33:46
Yeah. I'm probably the only one that
33:48
kind of, like stuck around this long.
33:50
I think that's why he's like, you're going to be the new
33:53
coach. What do you think about that?
33:58
Well, as a coach, from a boxer perspective, I'm not a good
34:03
coach. Like I I'm not a good coach.
34:06
I'm just like do this and then hopefully they'll get it and I'm
34:10
just like. Why can't you do that?
34:12
You know, like just do it like this.
34:14
Like, I don't know, having siblings and everything too.
34:18
And they like, yeah, it's not as easy like coaching.
34:22
It's not easy. You have to People have to
34:25
listen to you. Yeah.
34:27
You have to be able to understand what you're saying,
34:29
and you're right. You're telling them to do it
34:30
this way. They're looking at you like,
34:31
huh? Yeah, they're like what?
34:34
You know, It's like, OK, you know, not everyone is a boxer.
34:37
I gotta remember that. Really, baby steps.
34:44
Well, I think it's kind of cool that he, you know, he thinks
34:46
that. But you know, I think even with
34:48
coaches, you know, I think when you look at a lot of the the
34:50
coaching out there, a lot of boxers, but it doesn't matter
34:54
who it is, they'll eventually change, you know, because as
34:56
they grow, they grow. Not that they outgrow that
34:59
coach, but that coach has taught what they are meant to teach.
35:03
And then you go on to the next one who takes you to that next
35:06
level, next level, next level. Do you watch a lot of boxing now
35:11
after you got into it? Yeah, I feel like I know more
35:14
about boxing now than when I I didn't know anything about
35:18
boxing. What boxers do you look up to?
35:22
I really like for women Clarissa Shields, because she did come
35:27
from the amateurs as well, and she's built her way as well,
35:32
just like the big names, like Katie Taylor.
35:35
Alicia. I don't know how to say her last
35:37
name, but. They're really good.
35:40
And mailbox. And good for women.
35:43
I think that's the thing too is I think that when we're seeing
35:45
more and more women in these sports, and I think, I think
35:48
they still need more recognition and I think that they need more
35:51
push. We didn't interview with the
35:54
young lady and she works with women athletes and then trying
35:58
to get more women into the sports industry.
36:01
There's so much talent out there and I think until you find, I
36:04
mean nobody would have known about you had your brother not
36:07
bugs you. He gets a little bit of credit
36:10
for getting you in, Yeah. Then of course, you know when
36:14
you win the Olympics and then you go on to win a belt, he's
36:16
going to think he gets all the credit, just so you know.
36:19
Yeah, I know. My family tries not to like
36:23
compare us like that because he did start boxing like years
36:27
before I did and he's good at it.
36:30
That's the thing, is like, he's good at it naturally and it
36:34
sucks for me of how far I've had three kids and.
36:38
I'm still doing it and I'm still doing this and I and I want him
36:41
to, but he just choice his choices in life or just he'll
36:45
come around and he like you want to spar and I'm like, yeah, you
36:49
know, because he's good and he'll spar, he'll go rounds and
36:52
rounds like with me. Well, that's kind of cool.
36:55
I mean, it's still having that support and stuff.
36:57
And you know, I think even if he's not going to continue to
37:01
box on a daily or whatever, it's kind of cool that he still finds
37:04
that time to get in there and and spar with he.
37:06
Does he hit really hard? No, he doesn't hit me hard.
37:10
There was one time when we were kids that we like there's some
37:14
Hulk smash gloves on and we're like, this is what boxing is.
37:18
And he's like, just hit me and I'm like really?
37:21
And I hit him and I hit him really hard and dazed him and
37:24
he's like. You dazed me and like, he always
37:28
brings that up every time. We we like Spar and stuff.
37:32
He's like, I don't hit Angel hard because I know how hard she
37:34
hits. What do you feel in boxing is
37:39
your greatest skill? Is it your power?
37:41
Is it your technical? What do you think?
37:44
I think it's just power are. You going to be one of those
37:47
that has a lot of knockout? Power.
37:49
I hope so. One day maybe, but like, come
37:53
going. Into like more further into
37:56
amateur and the way they judge and stuff.
37:59
It's all about like being technical.
38:01
So it doesn't like really matter how hard you hit, just about how
38:06
good you look. I feel like that's more mostly
38:09
amateur. Unless, of course, you hit and
38:12
knock them out. Then you're done.
38:13
Unless you like, yeah, the only way like that.
38:19
Well, you know, I mean, do you feel like you're a good
38:22
technical fighter? Was that something?
38:24
I didn't start out being good at it at all?
38:28
I was a brawler, if you guys know what a brawler is, and then
38:33
I started working on footwork and like head movement and
38:37
stuff, so it's something I'm still learning.
38:41
I think it's really important to learn to move your head so that
38:44
it's a target. I'm just saying, well, I think
38:50
the good thing is. How much time are you going to
38:52
put into? You said you have a fight at the
38:53
end of July. Yeah.
38:56
How much time will you put in for that or?
38:59
Probably every every week besides the weekends, maybe.
39:03
I live in Bismarck, so it's like 2 hours away from here and he
39:08
puts gas in my car for me to have like no choice but to come
39:12
down. He's like, you bring the kids to
39:14
the gym, go to get in the gym. Months.
39:18
See, you can't. You don't even have an excuse.
39:21
Yeah. It sounds like this coach really
39:23
believes in you, yes? He does.
39:25
That's the thing, too. That's why I So my first fight
39:30
that I took after my pregnancy was actually April 1st.
39:33
So that was really only a month after I had my baby.
39:37
And he was like, you can let me know the first two weeks how you
39:42
feel. And I was like, OK, so I was
39:45
like, you know, I feel fine. I'm pretty good.
39:47
And then those last coming up weeks and I'm like, I can't do
39:52
it. I can't do it.
39:53
I'm I'm gonna like, what if I what if she just drops me And
39:55
then he's like, you guys are gonna fight good.
39:57
And so he's like you're you're fine, you can do it.
40:00
And I'm like what he's like OK, And then he'll say stuff like
40:04
when I went to the Golden Gloves, He says yeah, when you
40:07
come back with the belt, when you come back with the belt, I'm
40:10
like. If I come back with the belt and
40:12
he's like, no, when you come back with the belt, so he's
40:16
pretty, yeah. Hence why I said when you win
40:19
the Olympics and then go on to win a ballot, we talked about
40:23
it, it's already happening. So then when it happens, it
40:25
happens. And it's like, Oh yeah, it's
40:27
just you just know what's going to happen.
40:29
Yeah, it's nothing. Visualization is important.
40:34
Yeah. Realizing yourself, winning the
40:36
the title and and the Olympics, you know, that's where it
40:39
starts. It sounds like you, even after a
40:43
month, a little over a month out of boxing.
40:46
She didn't knock you out, I'm guessing.
40:48
No, she didn't. So you guys went the distance,
40:51
correct? And what is the distance for
40:55
people who don't know? It's just like you finish, you
40:59
go all the rooms 3 three minute rounds.
41:02
OK, because when you get to be a professional, it's not 3 three
41:05
minute rounds. No, it's only two minutes
41:09
actually, for girls. So.
41:11
Oh really? They say it's good.
41:13
Yeah, it's good to be an amateur female because you fight 3
41:16
minutes, so when you go to professionals it's only two.
41:21
Wow. What can you do in 2 minutes,
41:23
Noah? Yeah, do.
41:26
You ever feel that way when you're you're boxing is and
41:29
you're you feel like you're about to do something great in
41:32
the bell rings. Well, it's actually not that
41:36
fast. It feels like forever.
41:38
It feels like. Forever in the dreams.
41:41
Watching this. Yeah.
41:44
Like, Are you sure that was 2 minutes or three minutes or was
41:46
that 30 minutes? Yeah, I try not to pay attention
41:51
to the time because I know that it's like, OK, it's going to
41:55
take forever, you know? And then it does just feels like
41:59
forever. Well, you know, I think it's
42:02
really exciting and it's really great that getting more females
42:06
into those sports, because I feel like sports for some people
42:12
really is a way of kind of finding yourself or grounding
42:15
yourself or motivating or teaching you those skills of
42:19
discipline and those things that you're going to need later on in
42:21
life anyway. And you've kind of found that in
42:25
boxing. And so hopefully you will
42:27
continue to flourish in this, you know, and.
42:30
When the Olympics and then, you know, go on to do some work,
42:35
when you get paid for it, that's even better.
42:37
You know when I. That would be the time when I
42:40
get really serious. Just kidding.
42:42
No no for money. You better hope your coach ain't
42:46
listening to you. I know he's going to be so mad
42:49
at me, no. You get serious.
42:53
You better be serious. Well, you know, and I get that.
42:56
I think that. I know.
42:58
It sounds like for right now, you're still trying to navigate
43:01
the balance, you know? Yeah, yeah.
43:04
Plus I'm like, I gotta say, I'm like not that young, but I'm
43:09
also not that old. I'm only 24, so I still have a
43:14
lot of things to learn is what I'm told so.
43:18
Well, that you even said that. And you realize that you have a
43:20
lot to learn means you've learned a lot.
43:23
Yeah. No.
43:25
But 24 is young. It is young.
43:27
Yeah. But I think at that really good
43:30
age, you know, especially if you're starting, if you're doing
43:33
things like boxing or things like that, you know, and
43:37
hopefully you continue to pursue these things.
43:39
When you talk about boxing, you can see it on your face that it
43:43
matters. You really can't, you know.
43:46
It's something I really like. Well, you know, you're
43:48
navigating so much, you know, and I think that inspires other
43:52
people to help them to understand that you can be a
43:54
mom, you can go to school, you can box, you can skate, you can
43:58
do whatever it is that you want to do.
44:00
Find those things that bring you passion.
44:02
And then starting Sundance as well and incorporating your
44:06
culture into your arena, your personal arena, I think is
44:10
really important as well. And hopefully, you know, people
44:13
listen to this and be inspired by it.
44:16
Yeah, hopefully. I try to get my sisters and my
44:19
brothers to, you know, like, let my, like how you say your story.
44:24
I try to let it motivate them, but they're like, we're not you,
44:27
Angel. We're not you.
44:28
I'm like, I'm not saying maybe. I'm just saying you know, you.
44:31
Can do it too. If you want.
44:32
Exactly. Exactly.
44:34
You really can, you know and I think that you're showing that
44:37
and we so appreciate you coming on and and sharing your story
44:41
and hopefully it does inspire somebody else and whether
44:44
they're. Female native, whoever they are,
44:48
that they actually feel inspired to follow their dream, to find
44:53
that thing that maybe they didn't even know they like, but
44:56
to challenge themselves to go into a gym.
44:59
Who knows what's going to happen?
45:01
Yeah, and realize that, you know, even though you don't have
45:03
everything figured out, you know, engaging in all these
45:06
things is just giving you more opportunity to know what it is
45:09
that you really want. So that's.
45:12
So we're very exactly so we are so excited for you when we are
45:17
so grateful that you joined us and.
45:20
Good luck on your outcoming site.
45:21
Yes. And we'll we'll post all this to
45:25
our Facebook page so people can see what's going on with you and
45:30
kind of follow along on your career and stuff.
45:33
So we think that's really important.
45:35
And we do have a website, it's 2 girls on a pod.com and it'll be
45:38
up on that website as well. So, yeah, get you a little bit
45:41
of exposure out there. So we couldn't you know.
45:44
Yeah, this is like my first interview, so.
45:47
Awesome. Pretty much.
45:49
Hopefully it won't be your last and hopefully we can do it again
45:51
after you win the Olympics, yeah.
45:54
You know, we need to talk. For sure learning from here to
45:57
there, you know, and I think it's important, you know, to
46:00
follow along with those people when you and and that's really
46:04
important for us. So the people we interview, we
46:06
try to promote them on all of our social medias.
46:10
And to kind of see where that journey's taking them.
46:13
So we're really excited about that.
46:16
As always, we want to thank everybody for listening.
46:18
We truly appreciate it. And once again, we hope that
46:21
you're get a little bit of motivation out of this interview
46:26
and just realize that you don't just go out, try something new
46:29
and who knows what you're going to, You may become a boxer.
46:32
You never can tell. So thank you so much for joining
46:34
us and we will be back next week.
46:38
Bye.