Family, Persistence, and Growth 

Written by Ja’nique Jules

Spoken by Alex Betances Jr.

Alex Betances Jr., the son of Monica Rios and Alex Betances Sr., emphasizes how much helping others has helped him since the gym began. Born in the Lehigh Valley and then moving to Reading, Alex Jr. also has a strong connection to the city. His mom’s side of the family is from Bethlehem, and his dad’s side is from Reading. Alex spent a lot of time going back and forth between the two cities. “I grew up playing kick the can in the alleyways with a bunch of kids that were older than me. You know, we played basketball. On the blacktop,” he explained as he reminisced on his younger days. Because Star City and the Betances’ real-estate business are both in the city, he feels extremely connected to the city that he grew up in. Although the family moved to the Wyomissing area, where Alex graduated from Wilson High School in 2015, he still feels connected to the city where most of his family lives. He also realizes the background that comes from being a part of a city such as Reading: “You know, it's a dangerous place nowadays, one member had gotten shot and passed away a couple of years back. And it's like, if we can, we just continue to give kids a safe, productive environment.” 

After graduating high school, Alex was back and forth between Pennsylvania and Florida until 2020, when COVID hit. He graduated from college in Florida and came back to Pennsylvania to work. He ended up staying there, since that is where most of his family lives and he feels close to his upbringing.  

He also stayed at the gym. He wanted to help with its success. “There's no financial benefit from our being here every day,” he explained. “We just do it because we love the culture, and the environment that is being made there. We know that it's powerful for the community.”  

Alex Jr. does a lot of the gym’s operational tasks as well, including checking members in, taking orders for things others need help in getting done, signing members in, taking payments, helping sign up new members, managing inventory, cleaning up the gym, and assisting with events and sparring sessions. He also made a key point about what he does for the day-to-day operations. “I motivate the kids,” he stated. 

“One of the things I'm most proud to see is when we started, my younger cousin, Max, went through a rough patch.” Alex said. “So, we actually started in an interesting time, because at that moment, he also stepped up when it came to the gym and just helping in general and being a leader for other kids.” This was one of Alex’s fondest memories of the gym, seeing how it directly impacted the boxers, but more specifically, a young boxer in his own family. “Whether [Max] realizes that yet or not. I think that is a pivotal moment for him and for me to see that, it means a lot to me.” Alex spoke multiple times about how much seeing the impact that the gym makes on the youth is one of the most important pieces which he gets gratification from working in the gym.  

Alex Jr. appreciates the community’s support and how it’s contributed to the gym’s success. “We're really blessed to have an environment that we do, and we're really blessed to have members that we do. We have a lot of strong leaders up there that step up and they help other people, and it really is an awesome thing that we have going on here.” 

Alex describes Star City as “an environment where people can come and get better as a person. Get stronger. Get smarter and surround yourself with people that want to better themselves and grow as a community. That's what we are.” “Family. Persistence and Growth” were the words he used to describe the gym. “You're learning how to dedicate yourself to something. Those skills, they transpire.”  

Being part of Star City has impacted Alex on a personal level. “It keeps me calibrated,” he stated. “It's just helped me remain humble, and it reminded me that it's not really all about you. It's about uplifting. The opportunity to uplift someone else is like one of the greatest things you can really do. I feel great when I'm able to help somebody that didn't think they would ever step into the ring before.” 

Alex wants others to get involved in the gym. “If anybody ever wants to support or help or if they just want to see what's going on, we're open to any and everybody.” He thinks others might feel as he feels: “I learned that anyone could turn their life around. You know, given a good environment, anyone can make different decisions and want themselves to become a different person through persistence and growth.”