By Tamica Garnett

Telecommunications giant, Digicel, yesterday became the latest sponsor to  assist the Guyana Karate College (GKC) to host the 11th International Shotokan Federation (ISKF) Pan American Karate Championships scheduled to be held in Guyana from August 12-15.

Digicel Events and Marketing Manager Shonnet Moore and GKC Chairman Frank Woon-A-Tai pose with the sponsorship cheque while Vice Chairman Jeffrey Wong is at far left with some of Guyana’s representing karatekas.

Digicel’s Events and Marketing Manager, Shonnet Moore, yesterday handed over a cheque for $300,000 to the GKC Chairman and Chief Instructor, Frank Woon-A-Tai, at a press conference in the Digicel Boardroom, Kingston.

Moore said that the business was very pleased to support this “dynamic opportunity” alongside the GKC.

She added that they have been keeping up-to-date with the achievements of the GKC and was very pleased to be associated with such a promising institution.

“As you know we are always involved in the development of sports in Guyana and karate is no exception. We have been following the sport and we know that the karatekas have been doing very well abroad and now that the Pan Am games are going to be held here, we want to be a part of this dynamic  opportunity so we are very pleased to be on board the Pan Am Games this year and we are very happy to support the GKC,” Moore said.

This will be the second time that Guyana has hosted this event, and Woon-A-Tai, in his address said that the GKC will be hoping the quality of this event surpass that of the previous one.

Woon-A-Tai further expressed his gratitude to Digicel for their assistance in making the event a reality.

“The last time Guyana held the Pan American Karate Tournament was in 1989 and they did very well, and now it is 21 years later and we hope to pass those expectations. And we want to say thank you very much to Digicel for this generous sponsorship,” Woon-A-Tai said.

Senior Instructor and Vice-Chairman of the college, Jeffrey Wong, added that with the GKC facing an eight million dollars budget to host the games, the college was grateful for every assistance.

The college has been receiving sponsorship from the corporate sector since it announced its plans to host the championships and Wong yesterday disclosed that only approximately three million dollars remain to be garnered.

“So far we are doing well, we have sponsorship from lots of other businesses. We received sponsorship from Scotia Bank, Demerara Bank, Bakewell, Ansa McAl, and many more that are too numerous to mention but we extend our gratitude to them all,” Wong said.

The event is expected to be held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, and will see karatekas from Guyana facing off against competition from Canada, USA, Antigua, Venezuela, Suriname, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, and Grenada.