Joining Baraka Bouts was a no-brainer for Layann Wardeh.
She built a connection with combat sports long before setting foot on Notre Dame’s campus. Not wanting to be the odd one out among her kindergarten friends, she joined a school taekwondo club at the age of four. From there, she fell in love with the sport, practicing it throughout middle and high school.
“That personal work that you have to put in by yourself, there’s a lot of grit,” Wardeh said. “Whenever you are inside the ring, all the work you put in is showcased.”
But while fighters may be the only ones in the ring when the bell sounds, they are never alone. The relational nature of combat sports is often lost on those who merely see two people trying to knock each other out.
“You get to work as part of a team,” Wardeh said. “You get to learn from so many different people, and that all translates into something between you and your coach.”
Countless hours of preparation go into fight night. The bonds between athlete and coach, as well as with other athletes training alongside, make those hours fruitful. Mutual respect and support are at the heart of these relationships. Everyone involved knows the courage and willpower it takes to enter the ring. Because of this, they share a common goal: be ready when the moment comes.
As a freshman in college, Wardeh jumped at the chance to keep fighting, this time in the boxing ring. The summer before arriving in South Bend, she stumbled across Instagram posts advertising Baraka Bouts. After talking to the group at the activities fair, she attended their first practice soon after. According to Wardeh, the club and its members made a strong first impression.
“There was one captain, his name was Luke Slahor. He came up to me once and was like, ‘Hey, do you want to get some extra work?’” Wardeh said. “Getting that one-on-one work with another captain and seeing how I can improve and progress in the club really kept me in there and kept me working.”
Wardeh soon learned the Baraka community wasn’t just housed within the walls of the pit in the Joyce Center or the tournament ring in the center of Dahnke Ballroom. It reaches far across the globe, specifically to secondary schools in Jinja and Kyarusozi, Uganda. Since its founding in 2002, Baraka Bouts has been as devoted to service and education as they have been to developing fighters. The club raises money for the Holy Cross Missions in East Africa, with this year’s funds being put toward a new girls’ dormitory at the Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School to accommodate more students.
“The fundraising is what kept me there,” Wardeh said. “I went to Uganda between my sophomore and junior year summer through the Institute [for] Social Concerns, so also seeing that has been a reason that keeps me in the club.”
Encountering where all the donations were going in person had a profound impact on Wardeh. In her essay “A Journey of Hope,” which won the 2024 Holy Cross Missions Student Essay Contest, she reflected on her eight weeks in Uganda, where she was touched by the strength and grace of a young girl named Hope. Hope led her netball team through district competitions, steadying them before the high-stakes game and comforting them after a heartbreaking loss. This inspired Wardeh “to lead with the same confidence and compassion that Hope displayed.”
When she returned to campus her junior year, that’s exactly what she did. Wardeh became the practice captain and, a year later, president of the club. She welcomed the opportunity to mentor people with the experience she had gained over the years.
“Something I really like about leadership positions in general is getting to pass on the knowledge you have to people who are new,” Wardeh said.
She also emphasized the importance of the club’s common goal.
“I think it’s different than a lot of other sports, where the goal at the end is just to win. With our club, it’s also bringing everyone together.”
When she became president, Wardeh had a vision for the club in addition to the continued fundraising efforts. She hoped to instill a mindset in her captains to be voices for the shy, younger athletes. She saw herself in them.
“I’m more on the shy end, or more on the quiet end of people, so I find it hard to approach people sometimes,” Wardeh said. “That’s something I really cared about, having the captains be the people reaching out to other members of the club.”
Wardeh’s approach comes as no surprise. After all, it was her one-on-one with Slahor that helped Baraka Bouts become a part of her life all those years ago. She believes her captains can do the same for any one of the newcomers now.
Wardeh was a born leader. When asked what lights her on fire most, she responded not with fighting nor fundraising.
“I love being in someone’s corner,” Wardeh said. “You get to really tailor a solution to them. It’s not a one-size-fits-all with the people I work with.”
Studying to become a computer engineer, she knows how to problem solve and find the training style that best fits each of her boxers. More than the training, though, she loves to see boxers grow year after year as people and fighters.
“Working with someone is not just boxing … it forms that personal connection that’s way more.”
