Monday, July 30, 2018

Sport: Jamaica Looking to Host Thousands for World Amateur Karate

INTERNATIONAL Sport Karate and Kickboxing Association (ISKA) President Cory Schafer has predicted that Jamaica could host close to 4,000 visitors for nearly two weeks on the island for the September 13-15 Amateur Members Association World Championships set for the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Schafer, whose organisation stages the annual United States Open World Martial Arts Championships in Orlando, Florida, was one of many visitors to Jamaica's busy booth at the recent event, promoting Jamaica's historic hosting of an ISKA World Championship.

“For martial arts tournaments, the majority of the competitors are children travelling with parents. In that regard, Montego Bay is a beautiful place to go to a tournament and spend the next week,” Schafer said, pointing out that the island received rave reviews in 2014 when it hosted its first martial arts world event, the International Taekwon-Do Federation World Cup.

“The competition, then sun, sea and beach afterwards, make the destination extremely attractive to children and parents alike,” Schafer added, while congratulating Jamaica's Master Claude Chin for the island's feat of winning 41 medals — 12 gold, nine silver and 20 bronze — at this year's US Open.

Gavin Stewart, a member of the Jamaica 2018 organising committee, said his experience from 2014 was that late entries from Europe are the norm, whereas the United States, South Africans and Australians tend to register earlier.



“A lot of interest has been shown, especially from persons already registered and coming from the United States,” he explained.

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