JHF needs $5m more to attend Hockey5s World Cup
Stewart: We have cut a lot of stuff after starting out with a $32-million budget. Airfare alone is $7 million and accommodation is $2-3 million. But a lot of the other things have been chopped ...
Published:Saturday | December 30, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
President of the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF), Fabian Stewart, says his association is still far short of the required amount needed to compete at next month’s Hockey5s World Cup in Oman.
A Jamaican team is set to compete in a hockey World Cup for the first time and will face Egypt in their first match on January 28.
According to Stewart, the federation now needs at least another $5 million to travel to the tournament which runs from January 28 to 31 after drastic cuts in their original budget.
Stewart said they now need about $12 to $15 million overall to cover their costs. “We have cut a lot of stuff after starting out with a $32-million budget. Airfare alone is $7 million and accommodation is $2-3 million. But a lot of the other things have been chopped like nutrition, medical, gear. So it’s a largely reduced budget, so we are just going bare bones to try and just represent,” Stewart added.
With the shortfall he pointed out that they have had to discard plans to get in a few international practice games for the team ahead of the World Cup.
“We are way behind schedule and there are now certain things we cannot do. We wanted to have some international games but that is not going to happen. So the plan is to get as much money (as we can) and go down early, so that we can get in two practice games at least,” the JHF president said.
He reasoned that if they get to Oman by January 24, they would have enough time to get in the games they require.
“We have to leave by January 21 or 22 because it takes over a day to get there. That would allow them (players) time to rest and play a couple practice games and get used to the turf and the bounce of the wall and things of that nature. So we really want to leave early,” he emphasised.
Although the JHF has received commitments from the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Ministry of Sport, he said the feedback from corporate Jamaica has been underwhelming.
MONETARY COMMITMENT
“The JOA has committed $3 million to us and the ministry has committed about $2 million. I have not heard anything from the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), as I do not look at the ministry and the SDF as the same thing. So we would like to get something out of the SDF as well,” he continued.
“We have tried to talk to a lot of corporate people but from budget cuts to modifications in priorities, you name it, we just haven’t gotten the traction from corporate Jamaica. We have not had any takeups,” Stewart said.
He revealed also that they had a commitment from the Jamaica Tourist Board, who said they had an interest in that part of the world and wanted to partner with them.
However, according to Stewart, there has been no communication since that initial commitment.
Nevertheless, he said Jamaica are ranked 16th in the world and the intention is to go to the World Cup and compete as the benefits would be immeasurable.
“Things are not as we would have liked. We would have liked a couple stops in Europe for a couple of games. But the expectation is to compete.
“This is a new format and Jamaica is ranked in the top 16 of the world and we now have an opportunity to gauge where we are against international competitors.
“We have been talking to the FIH (International Hockey Federation) president about getting Jamaican players into Europe. So getting the players seen at the international level will allow us to have an easier discussion for their matriculation into Europe. But I have no doubt in my mind that we can compete in this version of the game. And $5 to $7 million more would give us some breathing space.”
Jamaica will compete in Pool B at the World Cup along with Egypt, India and Switzerland.