Iron Strong
A structured positive youth development and trauma-informed intervention program — teaching at-risk youth the skills to thrive through mentorship and the discipline of boxing.
Signature Program
What Is Iron Strong?
Iron Strong is the structured intervention program of Highlanders Boxing Club & HBC Iron Youth Services (HBC) — designed specifically for youth who are at highest risk: those involved in the juvenile justice system, referred by San Bernardino County Probation, struggling with trauma, or disengaged from school and community.
Unlike a drop-in class, Iron Strong is an intentional, research-backed framework that uses boxing as the contextual hook for building six social-emotional skills identified by Positive Youth Development (PYD) research. Every drill, every conversation, every coach interaction is designed to develop these skills — which research shows predict long-term success in school, work, and relationships.
Iron Strong isn't about making boxers. It's about making resilient, capable, self-directed young people who have the skills to navigate a world that hasn't always been kind to them.
The Framework
HBC IRON: Identity, Resilience, Opportunity, Navigation
Four growth domains at the heart of Iron Strong — each one a place where young people build the skills, confidence, and roots to thrive.
The Framework
Three Pillars of Iron Strong
Iron Strong integrates three evidence-based approaches into a single, cohesive program. Each pillar reinforces the others.
Positive Youth Development
Iron Strong is built on PYD research — a strengths-based framework that identifies and cultivates the internal assets young people need to thrive. Rather than focusing on deficits, PYD builds on what's right with a young person and provides the environment for those strengths to grow.
Trauma-Informed Care
Many Iron Strong participants carry the weight of adverse childhood experiences — abuse, neglect, household instability, community violence. Our trauma-informed approach ensures that every interaction, every training session, and every rule is designed with an awareness of trauma's impact on behavior and development.
Boxing as the Vehicle
Boxing provides the context, the motivation, and the physical metaphor for growth. The discipline of training, the honesty of the ring, and the coach-athlete bond create the conditions where PYD and TIC can actually take root — especially with youth who've been failed by traditional interventions.
In the Schools
Iron Strong, On the Ground
Iron Strong runs at HBC and in our local community schools — bringing the same PYD-grounded coaching to the classrooms and yards where kids spend their day.
Social & Emotional Learning
SEL Programs for San Bernardino County Schools
HBC delivers social and emotional learning programs for San Bernardino County schools — building self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making in the same classrooms where students already spend their day.
HBC social and emotional learning programs for San Bernardino County schools.
SEL is the bridge between the work HBC does at the gym and the world students actually live in. When schools partner with us to deliver SEL programming on-site, the same regulation, accountability, and relationship-building from Iron Strong reach kids who may never set foot in the boxing club.
Today HBC operates SEL programs across multiple San Bernardino County schools, working with counselors and teachers to identify the students who benefit most.
In the System
Mentoring Inside San Bernardino County Juvenile Halls
HBC brings mentoring programs directly into San Bernardino County juvenile halls — meeting justice-involved youth where they are, so they can grow and reach their full potential to thrive.
HBC mentoring programs within the San Bernardino County juvenile halls — helping justice-involved youth grow and reach their full potential to thrive.
Most of the youth referred to Iron Strong have already touched the juvenile justice system. Going into the halls is how we meet them before they're released — building the relationship that becomes the bridge to programming on the outside.
Inside, the work looks like the work everywhere else at HBC: structure, honest conversation, and the steady presence of credible mentors who've walked similar roads. Outside, the relationship continues — at the gym, in school, and through the IRON Model of Care.
What Iron Strong Teaches
6 Social-Emotional Skills
These six skills — identified by PYD research as the foundation for thriving — are explicitly taught, practiced, and reinforced in every Iron Strong session. Click each skill to see how the program teaches it.
A strong body makes the mind strong.
Tony Collins Cifuentes — Founder, Highlanders Boxing Club
This isn't just a motto — it's the operating principle of Iron Strong. Physical training builds the neural pathways for emotional regulation, discipline, and self-efficacy. The body learns first; the mind follows.
For Agencies, Schools & Families
Referral Pathway
Iron Strong accepts referrals from San Bernardino County Probation, school counselors, social workers, mental health agencies, and families. The process is straightforward and designed to be low-barrier.
Identify a Youth
A probation officer, school counselor, social worker, or family member identifies a young person who could benefit from structured intervention, mentorship, and youth development programming.
Contact HBC
Reach out to HBC by phone at (909) 496-0710 or visit during program hours. Discuss the youth's situation, goals, and any special considerations.
Intake & Assessment
A coach meets with the youth and family to understand their background, assess readiness, and set initial goals. There are no tryouts — Iron Strong meets youth where they are.
Begin the Program
The youth enters regular training with Iron Strong-specific coaching. Progress is tracked across the 6 social-emotional skills, with regular check-ins between coaches, the youth, and referring agencies.
Ongoing Communication
HBC maintains contact with referring agencies and families throughout participation. Progress reports, challenges, and milestones are shared to ensure coordinated support.
Impact
Outcomes
Youth who participate in Iron Strong demonstrate measurable improvements across the 6 social-emotional skills. Many arrive through probation referrals or in the midst of family crisis — and over time, they develop the emotional regulation, initiative, and interpersonal skills that reduce recidivism and improve life outcomes.
Iron Strong's success isn't measured only in athletic records. It's measured in youth who stay in school, reconnect with their families, avoid re-arrest, and begin to see themselves as capable of a different future.
6
Social-Emotional Skills
7,000+
Youth Served by HBC
25+
Years of Impact
Refer a Youth to Iron Strong
If you're a probation officer, school counselor, social worker, or family member — and you know a young person who could benefit from structured intervention, mentorship, and youth-development programming — we want to hear from you.