Three years ago, Olivia Mancuso and Monica Caponigro joined hundreds of women on Notre Dame’s campus in the women’s boxing club known as Baraka Bouts. In her freshman year, Mancuso noticed the sweatshirt of a fellow Howard Hall resident and team captain, signed up and didn’t look back. Caponigro’s contact with the club came much earlier, long before she resided in Pasquerilla East as a Notre Dame student. Following her dad on a football Friday, nine-year-old Caponigro was invited by a group of girls to join their plank workout. She later learned they were in Baraka Bouts. Stepping foot on the campus years later, her sights were set on the club.
Hailing from Buffalo, New York, Mancuso studies applied computational math and statistics as well as Italian. She served on the Student International Business Council (SIBC) as a project leader, guiding freshmen and sophomores through their first experience preparing for a job. She also interned for the United Nations in their Human Refugees Department, teaching applicant refugees how to speak Italian and acclimate to their new country. Along with her role as Baraka Bouts vice president, Mancuso’s pursuits are all united by a common thread.
“A huge part of my life and what I’ve learned that I’ve really enjoyed through my activities on campus is mentoring others through what is usually a confusing and unfamiliar experience,” Mancuso said. “You’re getting all these girls coming into a sport that’s oftentimes a little isolating, very physical and kind of intimidating. So being able to coach them and guide them through that experience is extremely rewarding.”
Caponigro, a South Bend native, studies peace studies and film, television and theatre. She was the first Notre Dame intern to be a part of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Rome and initiated the RISE and First Home Team programs with the Institute for Social Concerns. Taking on a variety of new experiences has shaped her mindset both inside and outside the ring.
“It’s been an opportunity for me to learn and grow in ways that push and pull me the way that boxing does,” Caponigro said. “Different skills are able to transfer into the boxing ring in the way of trying new things and not being afraid to — being able to kind of roll with what’s given to me.”
A core pillar of the Baraka Bouts mission is a commitment to service. The club helps support funding new resources at two Holy Cross schools in Uganda, St. Joseph’s Hill Secondary School in Kyembogo, and Lakeview Secondary School in Jinja. Beyond the value placed on international outreach, the club also works to build up students on campus.
“A big direction I love to see Baraka going into is such a personalized style of leadership for our boxers,” Mancuso said. “I love to see coaches, captains and boxers connecting and forming these personal relationships that are really going to benefit them both inside and outside of the ring.”
Caponigro’s time spent teaching at a Ugandan school brought her into close contact with one of the most impactful parts of the club’s mission. That impact runs far deeper than any money donated, a truth she witnessed firsthand living in the East African community, a community with values that women in the club seek to model.
“They go through so much together and their joy with one another and their excitement with one another is infectious,” Caponigro said. “Having those kids as a reminder of the infectious joy that we should be spreading with boxing is a pretty big way that I consider the community within boxing to be important as well.”
Mancuso and Caponigro share a vision for what they believe to be the fundamental principle of the Baraka Bouts community. It centers on how they define power, and what it means to empower each woman in the club.
“We look at power with the mindset that everybody has power. It’s about how they claim it that’s a little bit different, and how they voice it,” Caponigro explains. “I think the club is a place where we can give more tools to women to be able to claim their power in different ways and feel powerful.”
Mancuso also addresses how this mentality requires stepping out of one’s comfort zone not only to get into the ring and fight but also as a woman in a predominantly male sport. Helping women overcome expectations or stereotypes that exist in society is central to the club’s goal and her mission as a leader within it.
“To encourage these women to step past that societal expectation or that stereotype is really important to me, and I think it translates to a lot of other things,” Mancuso said. “Not only in the ring in boxing but outside of boxing with pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.”
The two vice presidents are important leadership figures in the club but also must balance their individual aspirations as fighters among other responsibilities. The way they can strike this balance, however, is a testament to the strength of the tight-knit community of the club. Laying out her demanding four-hour practice routine bouncing between personal training and coaching, Mancuso cites how taking the time to teach other boxers aids in her own growth when evaluating strengths and weaknesses. As tough as this is, the experience is a rewarding one for her.
“Being intentional with your time, knowing that it is quite a large time commitment, but you can do a lot of good to others and to yourself is so important,” Mancuso said.
Caponigro also stressed the importance of the little things, especially when making time for other boxers.
“Checking in on them or making sure that they’re feeling good about a spar. That doesn’t take more than 30 seconds to send off a text but it means a lot more,” Caponigro said. “It goes back to that community aspect. We really care about each other.”
This year’s edition of Baraka Bouts will commence Monday with the quarterfinals. They will take place beginning at 7 p.m. in Dahnke Ballroom.
