What a weekend for M.A.S.K. trainer Jamahl!
Last Saturday saw Jamahl step on the Tatami for the UK’s biggest and most prestigious tournament, the World Association of Kickboxing Organisation (WAKO) British Kickboxing Championships.
He didn’t disappoint and at the age of just 19, he became the British Champion in the Men’s – 74Kg weight class.
The WAKO organisation has fairly recently been granted IOC approval and is pushing hard to make Kickboxing a fully fledged Olympic sport. It has been a lifelong dream for Jamahl to one day become an Olympian and hopefully within his competitive lifetime, this dream may become a reality.
If you have been receiving our emails for some time, you may remember Jamahl’s back story where at age 3 he was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and later ADHD. As parents we were categorically told “He will NEVER be an athlete, nor will he ever be academic…you must take him home and Love him for who he is”.
Those words need to be captured and immortalised to represent what neurodiverse children are actually capable of achieving as Jamahl’s list of achievements continue to grow.
Just some of Jamahl’s achievements to date include:
34 x National Champion (covering Kickboxing and Taekwondo, child to adult)
7 x World Kickboxing Champion (child to adult)
UK’s youngest ever FULLY qualified Level 3 Personal Trainer (age 15)
Triple A* Grades at A-Level – despite being in special needs education until age 13!
Sponsorship Opportunity
Despite Jamahl’s huge list of achievements, his dedication, discipline, hard work ethic, and his very humble and gentle demeanour, sadly, there is absolutely NO funding for him through any government schemes. Lottery funding doesn’t fund Kickboxing, the talented athlete scholarship scheme said “No”, so did Sports Aid, Everyone Active Sporting Champions, the Ron Pickering Memorial fund and the GLL Sport Foundation.
Organisations seem very reluctant to sponsor non Olympic combat sports, which is a huge shame considering the huge number of participants both nationally and internationally. We have best estimated that this year Jamahl’s competitive season will cost just under £19,000, hence we are actively seeking sponsorship.
Could You Help?
This is a rare occasion where we are kindly requesting your help. If you know of any individual or company who would be interested in sponsoring Jamahl, please put us in touch.
All/any help or donations would be hugely appreciated by all of us.
We genuinely feel that Jamahl has that special quality which could see him go all the very way to the top, even in the most prestigious of arenas. However, like so many athletes before him, he does require a little help on his way up 👊
Wishing you all a truly magical weekend!
Have an awesome day everyone.
Until next time,
Vanessa x
