Never again!
Local Martial Arts body unwilling to host another global event unless Government lends significant support
ROSE HALL, St James — Despite hosting two wildly successful martial arts world championships and putting Jamaica on the map as a venue for future events, the Jamaica Mixed Martial Arts Association says they will not consider hosting another one unless they get more assistance from the Government.
After last week’s staging of the International Sport Karate and Kickboxing Association (ISKA) Amateur World Championships at Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, which was attended by an estimated 1000 persons from over 20 countries, Jason Mckay of the local body said they had been very fortunate in the past and he wasn’t sure they wanted to tempt fate a third time.
Given the potential earning for the island — about twice the cost of putting on the event — Mckay said the Government, in the form of the ministries of sports and tourism, owe it to the country to be a part of the staging of these global events.
“I am very, very grateful to God that this has worked out, as it was a very big project to undertake,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “It’s not just about hosting it here in Jamaica but moving it to the Panam region was quite a big risk they were taking, and we were taking a risk that they would come and they did arrive and God is behind me... this is the second time I was doing it in four years and I don’t think I will do it again.”
Jamaica had hosted the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Cup in 2014, also at Montego Bay Convention Centre, and at both events the Jamaican men won the team title.
“If we are to do it again I would have to get the Government involved more,” Mckay said. “The Government would have to be behind us more; it can’t be that we are depending on our own resources to put it on. It would have to be a government-sponsored event, not just endorsed.”
Mckay said it cost in the region of “US$70,000 to host the event” and most of the costs were underwritten by sponsorships, including help from the Jamaica Tourist Board and other sponsors. “I am sure that well over Us$1.5million was spent here this week so we have to look at the amount of money that was pumped into the economy as well when we make these decisions.
“It must be a focus of the Government, sports and tourism ministries to really want to do this,” he said.
The staging of the events would also fill a slow period during the tourist season, and dovetails in the high travelling season for global martial arts, he pointed out. “There is a need to fill out this period of low tourism arrivals, a period which is the high tourist season for the martial arts world. So they need to start to take notice and have a strategic plan and so we don’t have to wing it every time.”