Coach Shawn - Owner
Coach Shawn Desautels is a registered coach with Boxing BC; he was an amateur boxer in the 90’s and 20 years with the Canadian Armed Forces. Coach Shawn has taken his years of instructing, leading and operational experience in the military and applies it to the art of Boxing.
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Shawn is originally from St. Anne, Manitoba and has lived in Salmon Arm for 10 years. From a young age, he was always involved in martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Jiu Jitsu and Karate. He was introduced to boxing at a boxing gym that was underneath a night club in Kelowna. He was immediately drawn to the sport as it improved his fitness and confidence in ways he had never felt before. Once he was in peak condition, he had the opportunity to do 8 fights which led to joining the CAF.
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Shawn’s philosophy: “Everyone has something they are fighting for- I believe in helping people achieve their goals. I wanted to create a boxing gym that values inclusivity. We encourage anyone and everyone to come to our gym from beginner to competition level.”
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We offer youth and women’s classes, competitive sparring and provide open gym time for members to practice the skills they have learned.
I would like to formally welcome you to Whizbang Boxing.
Coach Dale
Coach “Diamond” Dale Phillips is a registered coach with Boxing BC and is the Head Coach for the Competition Boxers. He is an experienced trainer, a former professional boxer; a Golden Gloves and Provincial Champion with 65 amateur fights. Dale is an excellent communicator, and his knowledge of boxing is impeccable.
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Dale continues his boxing experience by training his own kids, helping with youth classes and Saturday Sparring for competitive boxing. Dale also provides private training sessions. He donates all his proceeds to charity- bcss.org (schizophrenia society).
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Dale’s philosophy is “I like it when people get better at things and really like when they can shatter their goals. I like teaching people how to punch properly because that’s a difficult thing to do in boxing.”
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Email: dale36phillips@gmail.com
Instagram: @shuswapdiamond
Coach Diana
We would like to welcome our newest coach, Diana. Diana spent the last 4 years in New Zealand and recently moved back to her home turf, here in Canada. Her interest in fighting began when she decided to learn Kung Fu at 10 years old which led to exploring other areas of martial arts including Jiu Jitsu and Kick Boxing. She eventually fell in love with Boxing shortly after she moved to New Zealand and has been training ever since. Diana had the opportunity to train as a professional boxer to prepare for the Clash of the Codes fight that took place in New Zealand.
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Diana believes that once you discover your strength, it will soon carry over into every other part of your life. She experienced a world of difference in her confidence levels once learned how to fight as it not only improves your physical health, but your mental health as well.
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Diana will be offering women's classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm as well as Saturdays at 1pm. Her classes are for beginner to intermediate levels so come give it a try and feel empowered!