Timmins will be well represented on the world stage this November.
Matthew Poulin, owner, operator and coach at Total Martial Arts Centre on Spruce Street, has been announced as one of only 3 coaches selected to Team Canada for the WKF (World Kickboxing Federation) World Championships taking place in November in Andria, Italy.
The national federation made the official announcement on Sunday.
Poulin joins Head Coach Gerald Ching (based in Toronto) and Leo De Matos (based in Montreal) on the 3 person coaching staff.
He said the news came as a pretty big and pleasant surprise.
"It's something I had applied for a few weeks ago, but when I applied I wasn't even sure if I should because out of hundreds of people, why are they going to pick someone from 'up north' right? All the coaches are pretty much from down south, but I did, and I got the call Thursday morning" said Poulin.
Over 40 coaches from all across Canada applied for the positions.
"Technically my position is 'National Coach Number One' which is Head MMA coach, and assistant Muay Thai coach."
Poulin will be joining T.M.A.C. fighter Todd Elvrum in Italy, who was also recently selected to the national team.
His spot on the team wasn't earned by merely being 'buddies' with the national team brass.
"I met him(Gerald Ching) once, at the last nationals, the other man (De Matos) I've never met him before" said Poulin.
Currently there are 33 athletes in total on the national team, but there are still some spots remaining. Those will be decided in the coming months at the WKF Canada Nationals taking place in Ajax, Ontario in September.
"A bunch of our (T.M.A.C.) 'Class A' guys are actually going to that, so there might be some more locals going too, it would be amazing" said Poulin.
He's excited to be working with one of his long-time star pupils in Elvrum.
"Todd's main thing we're going to focus on in Italy is MMA, and I'm MMA Head Coach so it's perfect. We'll be working together there too" he said.
Poulin has been coaching various martial arts since he was 15 years old, and his influence goes well beyond Timmins. Several other members of Team Canada will be seeing a familiar face.
"A guy I coached from Sudbury (Jesse Cronier) is on the team, guys I've coached from Ottawa are on the team, so some guys I'm actually already familiar with, which is amazing" he said.
Poulin says the position comes with a few financial perks, but also plenty of responsibilities.
"Part of my job now is to coach the team. The body of the team is in Toronto, so I've been going there every week now. For example, I'm coaching in Sudbury on Friday for Ground Games, then on Saturday I'm coaching jiu-jitsu, then on Sunday I have to drive to Toronto and help coach the World team, so its going to be a busy, busy weekend" he said.
There will be fundraising efforts announced in the near future, which people can keep up to date with at T.M.A.C.'s Facebook page.
From what Poulin has heard from the national team brass, is that he received one of the highest overall scores out of all the applicants.
"I have a bunch of different qualifications which some of the others don't have. I'm a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, I'm a Muay Thai instructor, I've been coaching for at least 15 years and I'm only 32, so I've got a lot of experience for someone my age."
Poulin also mentioned he is working on bringing an officially sanctioned MMA event to Timmins in the future, potentially as early as next March. It would be a first for the city.
