Our Team

Founder of The Base Training Center, Mitch Coats has been a successful Jiu Jitsu practitioner and competitor. Blazed the trail for Jiu Jitsu in the Treasure Valley and established The Base in 2005. Mitch is a third degree black belt under Alexendre “Gigi” Paiva from Alliance Jiu Jitsu. He is currently pursuing his Juris Doctorate and plans on attending law school at the University of Idaho but still drops in on The Base.

Professor BJ earned his Black Belt from Mitch Coats, a 3rd degree black belt under Alliance. BJ is the Owner of The Base Jiu Jitsu, a Checkmat USA affiliate, and is the Head Instructor. He competes regularly in tournaments throughout the region.

IBJJF American Nationals – 3rd

IBJJF Portland Open – 3rd

IBJJF Seattle Open – 2nd

IBJJF Denver Open – 1st

IBJJF Seattle Open – 2nd

US Grappling Submission Only – 1st

Jacob achieved black belt under Mitch Coats in 2015 and ran the kids Jiu Jitsu program at The Base for years. Jacob still runs a kids competition class once a week and teaches adult fundamentals. He competes regularly around the region with his son Ares who is an orange belt. He placed second at the Vegas Open and other IBJJF tournaments.

Chris Dealy achieved black belt under Mitch Coats in 2015. He is the owner and head coach of The Base Vancouver. He has grown his academy to over 100 students in Vancouver, OR and competes regularly around the region. He has placed at IBJJF, The Revolution, and Sub League tournaments.

Cory received his Jiu Jitsu Black Belt at the Base from Mitch Coats in 2018 but has been teaching kids jiu jitsu classes for much longer. Cory has been a big part of the kids success leading them to 6 kids team titles at the local Northwest Submission Challenge. His dedication and hard work with them is apparent in their performance on and off the mats.

Nick has wrestled since he was 4 years old. He has competed and placed nationally in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a Brown Belt and internationally as a wrestler for Boise State University. Nick runs our Thursday Wrestling & conditioning classes. He achieved his jiu jitsu black belt in 2018 at The Base.

Kyle saw early success in high school wrestling and was able to transition to the collegiate level through the University of Idaho’s NAIA wrestling program. Following college, Kyle was introduced to Jiu Jitsu at The Base in 2014. Kyle has been actively competing in both Regional and IBJJF competitions, placing third at the Long Beach open, and taking 1st at San Diego pro in 2018. Kyle has been actively engaged in the development of the kids program as well as, assisted in coaching the adult classes.

Paul Sondrini is a 1st degree black belt under Checkmat USA and Owner & Head Instructor at The Base Vancouver. Paul regularly competes and coaches throughout the region while coaching his students.

Jessica Knight is a Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt and a Karate Black Belt. She has competed and placed in multiple IBJJF tournaments. She will lead a Women’s Only BJJ class at The Base.