A former trainee footballer with Liverpool FC is now running a mixed martial arts gym in Kirkby which helps to keep young people away from gangs.
Scores of young people from across Merseyisde now train at KC Fight Base, a grass roots mixed martial arts club based in the Westvale area of the town. The club has produced champion fighters such as Kurtis Campbell and Connor Walsh, and taken part in competitions across Europe.
The club also teaches scores of young people the basics of mixed martial arts - such as boxing, kick boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The Kirkby club now attracts youngsters from across the city, and from very different backgrounds. Some of the lads arrive on the bus or on foot while others are dropped off in BMWs adn Range Rovers.
Kyle Keane, 29, who helps run the club, told the ECHO about the story behind KC Fight Base. Kyle was a promising young footballer who spent time at academy level with both Everton and Liverpool. Kyle met big names at both clubs including Wayne Rooney at Everton, but struggled with a volatile temperament.
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He said to the ECHO : "I was just too aggressive, and I was always being taken to one side. I remember spending time with Harry Kewell and Stevie Highway at Liverpool when they tried to get me to calm down a bit ."
Kyle, who grew up in Westvale, explained how he eventually lost all interest in football. He said: " I just wanted to hang around with my mates in Kirkby."
Kyle also took up training in kickboxing as a young man, and but soon developed a bit of an attitude problem. He said: " I wanted to be the hardcase all the time."
Kyle failed to realise his potential as a footballer, and found himself working as a labourer for a Liverpool based building and shop fitting company. Kyle told the ECHO how he was struggling, when the owner came up with an idea.
Kyle said: "Jay Campbell, who owned the company, knew the building trade was not for me. But then he offered to set me up in a gym."
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Jay, originally from Walton, said: "Yes Kyle was working for me but I knew joinery and the building trade was not for him. I knew Kyle was good at MMA, and I wanted to help him. So I invested some money in a gym and Kyle took it from there.
But for me the cash was the least of it. It was about seeing someone with aptitude realise their full potential. And the gym has also provided a huge boost to the Kirkby community."
Kyle, a two time black belt in Muay Thai and kickboxing, ran the gym with his brother Liam. Former UFC fighters Dave Faulkner also helped out as a coach.
Based in the Westvale area of Kirkby, KC Fight Base is now a thriving grassroots MMA gym. Kyle said: "I grew up in Kirkby and I know all about the gangs and stuff like that.
We are here as alternative to the kind of behaviour which can lead to being in a gang, like hanging around the shops at night.
Yes we have the odd lad that comes in with a bit of a moody reputation, but that soon goes. They are either stay and learn, or just go.
But we don't just throw people out. We point out where they are going wrong and ask them to stay."
Kyle explained who the gym now attracted young men from very different backgrounds. He said: "At one end we have lads who are from local authority homes, and then we have kids being dropped off in big cars. And we have a lad from Anfield who gets the bus here. But we treat everyone the same."
Jay Campbell explained how the gym was well placed to help with bullying.
He said: "Buying is a big issue and we are here to help, We give young lads a bit of confidence, which helps keep the bullies away. Ane we have also played a role mediating between two families when there was a bullying issue. Fortunately the two lads invovled are now mates.
The gym pulls in lads from across the city, from down the road to Formby and Ormskirk. That can only be a good thing for us."
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Kyle said that he often saw lads in the gym that reminded him of someone he used to know. He said: "I see lads who are the way I used to be all the time. We know there are problems and issues out there in Kirkby. A lot of the kids think they are entitled to an easy money lifestyle.
The one thing that this gym is not about is creating lads who can swagger around like the local hard case. We are not here to create bullies and we take people to one side who are showing the wrong attitude. The gym is about creating decent people who can defend themselves if they have to."
Kyle, who know lives in Formby , told the ECHO that the gym was now flourishing.
He said: "The gym has really taken off over recent years. We have received so much support from local businesses like R and R Services and Kirkby Blinds. They have helped us out with everything from boxing gloves and even paid for the lads to travel to Italy.
And we have champion fighters like Kurtis Campbell, Connor Walsh and Ruben Canaven.
But I am proud of all the kids that walk through the door here - not just the champions."
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For more information about KC Fight Base go here.
