Press Releases

Ali-King Essay Contest For Youth Is Still Open!

Published

13 years ago

September 25, 2012

September 25, 2012, Union City, NJ — Sartonk Designs is proud to announce the Ali-King Award’s distinguished Judging Committee. The award will be presented to each of the top three writers of the Annual Ali-King essay contest. Winners will be honored at the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame Banquet on November 8, 2012. The essay contest is sponsored by the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO, NJ Boxing Hall of Fame, USA Boxing NJ Association, Gleason's Gym, and Global Boxing.

Edward S. Majian, President of SARTONK, had this to say about the selection of judges: “We’ve learned that some youth in boxing are intimidated by essay writing. And we believe that those who exhibit enough faith in themselves to submit an essay deserve for their work to be judged by individuals who are not only critical thinkers, but also compassionate people. Whether boxer, educator or sports writer, each member of the Ali-King Judging Committee is a good example to boxing youth, and is therefore an agent of youth empowerment and literacy promotion. We're grateful for their involvement.”

The judges for the inaugural year of the Annual Ali-King Award are: Professor Anna Brown, Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis, Ryan Maquiñana, Professor Gordon Marino, and Michael Woods.

Professor Anna Brown serves as Chair of the Political Science Department and Director of the Social Justice program at Saint Peter's University. She is co-Editor, with James L. Marsh, of Faith, Resistance, and the Future: Daniel Berrigan's Contribution to Catholic Social Thought. Brown is also a member of the Kairos Peace Community and Witness Against Torture.

Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis is a professional female boxer who is also a NYC public school teacher. To go along with her educational credentials she is a 4x NYC Golden Champion, 2X National Champion, and a New England Golden Glove Champion. Ms. Lamonakis is a champion in and out of the ring, who with her tough love works hard to instill the value of education in her students.

Ryan Maquiñana is the Boxing Insider for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSNBayArea.com) and a staff writer for BoxingScene.com. He recently served as a boxing web producer for NBC Olympics and has previously written for MaxBoxing.com. A voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Northern California native also covers the local fight beat on his blog, Norcalboxing.net.

Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf College, Gordon Marino is an award winning boxing writer for The Wall Street Journal. A former boxer and head coach of boxing at Virginia Military Institute, he also trains both amateur and professional boxers in Minnesota.

Michael Woods is a contributing writer at ESPN The Magazine and the Editor of TheSweetScience.com. Woods, a board-member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with his wife and two daughters.

For more information about the Annual Ali-King Award, visit www.sartonk.com/ali-king. Follow SARTONK on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/sartonk and www.twitter.com/sartonk.

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