Two young Crossfield martial artists are headed to the World Boxing Council's World Muay Thai Youth Games as part of Team Canada in August alongside five of their Airdrie teammates.
Sixteen-year-old Logan Sanderson and his younger brother Hunter, 13, currently train three hours a day at the Airdrie Martial Arts Centre as part of Bellegarde's Dragons.
“Muay Thai is difficult training – we expect our athletes to train four days a week and a minimum of two to three hours a day,” said their head coach and owner of the centre, Khru Luis Cofre. “Some training is four to six days a week and they've had a really great fight camp.”
Fight camp is the training required prior to competing, Cofre explained. He noted the boys also assist with classes at the Airdrie Martial Arts centre and help teach younger and newer members.
In order to qualify for Team Canada, the Crossfield boys competed and won their matches at the national Muay Thai competition on April 16, organized by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
“They put in the time and effort so they have good results,” Cofre said, touting the extra training they both did to prepare for nationals.
Hunter fought one match with three rounds lasting 1.5 minutes each in the 13-year-old division at 70 pounds, while Logan fought a match with three two-minute rounds in the 16-year-old division at 115 pounds.
Each competitor fights three rounds during a match, and the rounds are observed by a panel of judges who decide on a winner based on their technique.
“There were some really fierce competitors, they came out and they all wanted to go to worlds so they all brought their ‘A’ game,” said their mother, Tara Adams Sanderson.
While it was Hunter’s first go at a national competition, Logan had some previous experience as he came in second at nationals in 2020, just before COVID-19 shut down virtually all sporting activities.
Between now and the world championship in August, the brothers will continue competing in order to stay in competition mode, Adams Sanderson explained.
“We'll review what happened at nationals and fill all the holes. If I saw that we need to make improvements in their fights, we'll make those improvements and pretty much keep going the way we're going,” Cofre said.
An additional aspect of their training leading up to the world championship is a strict diet to keep them within the weight class they’ve registered in, which won’t fall into place until about six weeks before the tournament, their mother noted.
“The two are in different types of fight camps. One has to keep his weight up to 70 pounds, so he has to eat a lot, and the oldest has to make sure he cuts out sugar and certain things to make sure he can stay at 115 pounds,” Adams Sanderson explained. “So, one gets tired of eating and one just wants a piece of bread.”
Adams Sanderson said by training right alongside her two sons, she gets a little taste of what they are going through.
“They do extra but I do a lot of the classes with them,” she said. “It's fine when we're training, it's nerve wracking when [they are] in the ring. I get nervous and excited. You just want them to do their best and have fun out there.”
Twenty other countries are expected to compete in the World Championships, which will be held in Calgary this August.
“It's going to be a really good competition and we're going to win. These boys are going to be world champions along with the other competitors that we have in Airdrie,” Cofre said.
The boys have trained at Bellegarde’s Dragons in Airdrie since the start of their young martial arts careers.
“Logan has been training for 12 years – we got him in when he was four because he was small and we wanted him to build his confidence in himself,” Adams Sanderson said. “And Hunter just kind of fell into it because his brother was into it. It's become quite an integral part of their lives.”
Five others from Airdrie will be fighting for gold at the world competition in Calgary on Aug. 13 and 14, including 10-year-old Ethan Baez, 12-year-old Aryan Sedighi, 13-year-old Matías Galdamez, 15-year-old Oscar Cofre, and 17-year-old Ocean Cofre.
