God’s Purpose 

Written by Giovanna DeLima

Spoken by Lindsay Bates

Coaching at Star City Boxing is God’s plan, according to Lindsay Bates, 64. God gave him the steps that are required in his journey and, as Coach Bates says, “This is a calling of God”. It was a long, sometimes difficult journey, but he is where he was destined to be, working with children and others to teach them about being humble, not only in victory but in defeat, and the importance of one’s actions and the impact it can make in someone’s life. 

“The lives that I touch, you know,not just at Star City, but in general when I started coaching you know, amateur boxing is that one person can make a difference, and it's a beautiful thing when you have that thought process.” 

Family has always been his priority; now, Bates is also part of the Star City Boxing family, and with his wife’s support, the families have merged. Both worlds have merged. As his wife Benita encourages and believes in him, he is motivated to continue his work.  

Bates was born into the life of boxing to a military father who had the love of boxing running through his veins. Bates’ father, David Dunn, was in the Olympic Trials of 1964 and was a national judo and boxing champion. His father inspired Bates to become a military man at the age of seventeen and to compete as an amateur boxer. 

During his years in the military. Bates was in the airborne infantry. He not only learned about himself and his strengths but lessons that he could later teach his boxers. 

After the military, Bates returned to Reading, where he met his wife, Benita. He knew he liked her in just five minutes and that she’d be his wife. Bates is a family man, a man whose heart and dedication resides within his family. Coach Bates and Benita are parents to Brandi and Keira Bates, and grandparents to Micah. 

During long nights that he has at the gym, she is right there supporting not only her husband, but the Star City Boxing family. As Bates says, his wife is his “ride or die,” supporting him through thick and thin.   

“She’s the one that when I came back home Saturday night at 1:30 in the morning from the Scranton Tournament, she asks ‘How’d it go? How’d the guys do’ and that’s what motivates me.” 

Bates was a welder at Reitnouer Aluminum Trailers for thirty years. At the same time, he coached boxing to Julian Cruz and Shakeem Hodge on the side. As he neared his retirement, he met Chino Garcia and formed a partnership. During this time, Chino was doing everything and anything to be able to train with Coach Bates and change his life and work on his love for the sport. “So, I'm on my lunch break and just shut my water off. I'm texting my daughters, my wife whatever and he comes into the plant on our lunch break with a Dick's Sporting Goods bag and inside the bag, he had gloves and arm wraps. And he goes to me ‘Are you going to train me now?’”  It happened, and Chino has become an undefeated boxer as part of the Star City Boxing family.  

After his retirement and the abrupt ending to training boxer and now coach Shakeem because of Shakeem’s car accident, Benita encouraged Bates to go out and find something to do. He called up Julian Cruz, who is also a coach at Star City and asked if needed any help. Then, he was introduced to Alex Betances and began coaching, bringing Chino to Star City with him. 

As a coach at Star City, what matters to Coach Bates is that he’s helping the boxers grow into good people by being respectful, hardworking, and productive adults in the world. He makes it a priority to give these kids and young men a chance to reinvent themselves and focus on their best qualities in a safe environment. 

“This is a positive environment. White, Black, Spanish, Asian, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Baptist. We don't care about that. Because the things we need are hard work, discipline, humble, and that don't have colors.” 

His focus at Star City is on the kids. He and the other coaches have created a positive and encouraging environment as well as a safe space for the kids to truly be themselves and escape the world. Here, he can be part of another family. He is faithful and loyal to them and knows that each of those kids is destined for greatness. It is the look on his face that he gets when Hernan or Max grasps a new concept and when Zach might step out of his comfort zone and show a different side of him where he realizes the impact that he makes on their lives and how much they truly mean to him. It was moments such as meeting with Zach, who initially was shy and to himself, but over time grew into a strong young man because of the guidance of coach Bates. 

As a coach, Bates wanted to instill his own life lessons that these kids could use to better themselves and their future. He became a mentor and father figure to children and he gives them love, friendship, and consistency. 

“These kids got trust issues. If I tell these kids, ‘I’ll be here tomorrow,’ I’m going to be here tomorrow. There are a lot of people that lied to these kids and gave them false promises and the one thing they know with coach is that I’ll always be here.” 

Bates has dedicated his life to keeping these kids off the streets and showing them how they’re worth so much more than what others have told them, and how to use the sport in their everyday lives, such as in school and future careers. He teaches his boxers discipline and work ethic. Bates conveys that he is a  man of no excuses and how, when you walk inside that gym, you better be ready to work and put in the time for the lifestyle you wish to achieve. 

As a result of the mentorship, several boxers now have championship titles and are even now coaches. Bates travels with his boxers around the country to watch them thrive. God gave him his own handbook and steps to influence a generation of kids who needed guidance when the streets and town they love let them down. As Bates says, “I have no control over this.” At Star City Boxing, it is clear and evident that, through Bates and other mentors, they created a strong and unique family. Bates explains family isn’t just blood, but the connections and bonds that you make as well as supporting one another through thick and thin in a community that needs it most. Lindsay Bates and his work with Star City Boxing is far from over, and he has the marching steps from God to always push him forward.          

The legacy that Bates wishes to leave behind is to be humble and to show that one man can make a difference. He emphasized that the beautiful thought process of how just the way you act and your character can impact someone’s life. God has a way of inspiring us and bringing us on certain paths that we were made to be on for a certain purpose; being at Star City does just that for the 64-year-old coach.