Supportive, Positive, and Inspiring

Written by Ja’nique Jules

Spoken by Tyleah Betances

Tyleah Betances shares a deep connection to the Star City Boxing gym and the City of Reading as a whole. The niece of Alex Betances Sr. and Monica Rios, Tyleah has been deeply affected by the gym and has emphasized how much it has meant to her to be a part of the gym. 

"I'm extremely proud of what this gym has become, it has been an incredible journey to see how it started and how it has grown into what it is now; all while maintaining the same core from the beginning of having a positive impact in the city of Reading." 

Tyleah was born in Reading, PA, and spent all her upbringing in the city until she left for college. The Betances family has deep connections to the city, dating back to her grandmother, who opened one of the first Dominican restaurants in the city named "Soby and Sons." She grew up highly connected to her family, which has continued to impact how close she is with them now. Having gone to the Reading School District in her early years, she transferred to Wilson for her middle school years and then Berks Catholic for high school. Although she went to different schools, she still kept a deep connection to the place she calls home. 

Growing up, Tyleah explains that she was more of a homebody, staying very closely connected with her family. She had a smaller group of friends and mainly stayed with them and her family. She believes that the gym helped her grow into someone more comfortable with stepping out of her comfort zone to push herself out of her usual limits and boundaries. 

Tyleah understands how great the city is to her, but she also highlighted that she understands the other side of how the city is viewed. "I've experienced both sides of it, and I was very fortunate to have a family that was always looking out for me and providing guidance throughout my upbringing. Being in an environment like [Reading], it's so easy to go down the wrong path and not everyone is fortunate enough to have someone looking out for them the way I did. This is why I value so much what Star City stands for and the guidance we are able to provide to the young individuals in our community.” 

Tyleah emphasized how her family has always valued the lesson of hard work and striving for your goals to see yourself where you want to be in the future. A big lesson revolving around the Betances family has been working hard to better yourself, which is something that Tyleah has taken in her own life.  

A recent LaSalle University graduate, Tyleah decided after high school she would move to Philadelphia to study psychology. She was very passionate about working with people, so she decided that psychology was the track she wanted to go down after changing her major a few times. In college, she took the idea of hard work and continued to work hard for her college community. She joined a sorority that had deep philanthropic values, such as donating to women's shelters, organizing annual walks, and doing different donation drives. In addition, she participated in the Love Your Melon committee to raise awareness for pediatric cancer, and she worked on other community clean-up weekends to clean up the local community. 

She explained why she enjoyed doing many of these things as it helped her still feel connected to how she was raised. "That kind of kept me connected to my roots of giving back when I was away in college.” 

Tyleah reminisced on one of her fondest memories of the gym, the opening summer event. There was a cookout; the whole community came with their friends and family. There was food, games, even a dunk tank, and the community came together to celebrate the gym's opening. Many people donated and brought food for the event, which helped it become an even bigger celebration. At that point, Tyleah reminisces: 

"I saw how important opening this gym was. Seeing everyone coming together. Like, wow, this is it. This is why we are doing it.”  

Sometimes, maintaining a gym such as Star City can also prove challenging. Tyleah explained that the most difficult challenge of the gym was most likely in the very early stages; as with any business or significant life move, for one to figure out what to do, one must go through it. She explained how they had long since gotten into their groove, and that the gym is running more smoothly because it is an "all hands on deck" type of effort. Gym members will also assist in cleaning up and maintaining the gym, which shows how much of an impact and a life lesson on giving a helping hand is being paid forward.  

"We've seen that change within the Star City members - watching their self-confidence grow. We're here to be a positive, safe space, so that they have a place to be who they are and strive for what they want to make of themselves," Tyleah explained.  

The gym has impacted many lives, and it has been such an essential part of what Reading is. "Supportive, positive and inspiring" were the three words Tyleah used to describe the gym. Tyleah emphasizes that the gym is supposed to be a healthy outlet for the students to build up their self-confidence and motivation and learn what it takes to get to the goals they want to achieve. 

In the eyes of Tyleah, Star City Boxing has had a tremendous impact not only on her family but also on the community. “We always had the same core from the beginning. Furthermore, it is so good that you see that impact, spreading and spreading and spreading throughout the community, and that is what we want. We want it to continue to spread.”  Tyleah explains that everyone at the gym puts in their all because they genuinely care about the students and what the gym means to them.