- Fighting Chance
- The Forge
The Forge
Where kids carrying too much find out what they’re made of.
The Forge Youth Empowerment Program puts young people in a real gym with real coaches: boxing and combat sports training, mentorship, and structure, at no cost or reduced cost to families.
What it is
A gym, a coach, a team, and a reason to come back tomorrow.
The Forge runs inside the TCB Fight Factory family of gyms. Young people learn boxing and combat sports from coaches who have trained national and world level fighters, and they learn it the way everybody at TCB does: on the same mats, under the same rules, alongside people who will notice if they stop showing up.
Training is the hook. The work underneath it is character: self discipline, respect, resilience, handling big emotions, settling conflict without fists, and making better calls when nobody is watching.
Money shouldn’t be what keeps a kid out of the gym. The Forge runs at no cost or reduced cost, and scholarships cover kids from low income households who would otherwise never get near a ring.
How it works
Four steps into the gym.
Reach out
A parent, a school counselor, a probation officer, a caseworker, or the kid. Anyone can start it. Call the gym or send the form.
Come see it
Walk in, meet the coaches, watch a class. Nobody gets thrown in the deep end on day one.
Meet a silent mentor
TCB pairs every new student with a teammate who becomes their first point of contact.
Show up and train
Real classes, real structure, and a team that expects you back.
What kids take home
More than a jab.
The Forge is built to teach the things a ring teaches fast and a hard life teaches slow.
- Discipline
Show up, warm up, do the work, even on the days you don’t feel like it.
- Respect
Touch gloves. Listen to your coach. Take care of your partner.
- Resilience
Get hit, reset, keep your hands up.
- Control
Feel the anger and choose what to do with it.
- Judgment
Make the better call when nobody is watching.
For schools, courts, and agencies
Send us the kid nobody else can reach.
The Forge takes referrals from juvenile justice systems, school districts, social services agencies, churches, and community partners across Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri.
Aaron Kimball told the Cassville Democrat in 2025 that the gym’s program has had a high success rate with at risk youth, including kids on juvenile probation in Washington County, Arkansas, and that he wanted to bring it to Cassville.
Questions parents ask
Straight answers.
What does the Forge cost?
The Forge runs at no cost or reduced cost to participants and their families. Scholarships cover kids from low income households. If money is what’s in the way, say so when you reach out.
What ages can join?
In Rogers, the Forge serves kids and teens ages 5 to 17 in TCB’s coached kids class, Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00 PM and Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. TCB Missouri in Cassville runs classes for ages 4 to 6 and 7 to 13, plus adult sessions, according to the Cassville Democrat. Tell us your kid’s age and we’ll find the right class at the Rogers or Cassville gym.
Who can refer a young person?
Parents and guardians, school counselors, juvenile courts and probation officers, social services caseworkers, churches, and community partners. Young people can reach out for themselves, too.
Does my kid need experience?
No. Everybody at TCB started somewhere. Coaches meet kids where they are.
Where does it happen?
At TCB Fight Factory, 1616 S 8th St, Rogers, Arkansas, and at TCB Missouri in Cassville. Check the TCB class schedule for current times.