McKay disappointed with Cunningham’s cut from squad
Jamaica combined martial arts female team Coach Jason McKay left the island on Monday with the team brimming with hope, but he was also disappointed that the country’s most accomplished female martial artist, Sheckema Cunningham, was not among the squad headed for the International Sport Kickboxing Association’s (ISKA) 2016 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Cunningham, an International Taekwon-Do Federation World Championship bronze medallist and ESPN Night of Champions gold medallist at the United States Open, was expected to make her ISKA World Champs debut in Germany.
However, the 30-year-old fighter was cut from the female combined team after not fulfilling training requirements, a zero-tolerance regime, which has an automatic cut if three sessions are missed in a month.
“She is not approaching the training with fire in her eyes. It’s like she has given up despite being one of the most talented fighters Jamaica has ever produced,” McKay said.
Cunningham ruled the local circuit for years until the emergence of Subrina Richards, who won gold at the ISKA World Champs in Portugal last year. The 19-year-old University of the West Indies student is hoping to defend her title in Stuttgart at the May 18-22 tournament.
Cunningham’s best years, McKay said, are ahead of her if she puts her mind to it.
“Fighting is a belief game. You have to believe you can do it and that will propel you to train and perform,” he said.
Meanwhile, more than 50 countries are expected to attend the championships, where Jamaica will field a small but potent squad of five fighters and two coaches, including Claude Chin.
The Jamaicans are hoping to return home with gold as they did in Portugal last year when teenager Richards became the first Jamaican female to win a world ISKA title.
Richards, the lone female on tour, is hoping to defend her lightweight crown, whereas Captain Adrian Moore and Richard Stone are hunting their first ISKA titles.
The other two fighters are juniors Romario Cole of Kingston College and Alex Dunn of Wolmer’s Boys’ School.
McKay is in charge of title holder Richards and the juniors, while Chin coaches Moore and Stone.
