President Fabian Stewart says the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF) is prepared to go whatever length necessary to ensure that the national team does not miss its campaign at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) men’s Hockey5s World Cup, in spite of financial challenges.

The tournament, in its first edition, runs from January 28 to 31 in Muscat, Oman, and the team’s berth is historic for the nation and the region as a whole.

Stewart told the Jamaica Observer that JHF is still seeking a total of around $5 million to get the team ready, but says the body is trying to get prepared at a reduced cost.

“I mean, it is not ideal missing this tournament; the first in 100 years is not an option. It is simply not an option,” Stewart said. “Hockey has been playing in this country from 1902 and we have never participated in a FIH World Cup of any type and so we have to do what we need to do to get there.”

Stewart says that while the JHF has received funding from various bodies, he is hoping for more support from corporate Jamaica.

“They have been not responding to us to the way how we anticipated for a World Cup qualifying sport,” he said. “We just have not gotten the particular type of response.

“We got a better response once the tournament is here but once the tournament is away and we need to travel, it is going to be difficult.”

Stewart says the JHF has received some assistance from the Government and the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) as they are working towards to pay the costs of travel and accommodation for the upcoming tournament.

“The initial budget to get to the tournament was $32 million, but you’re talking about preparation for a World Cup,” he said. “But the thing about it is that the budget was a comprehensive budget. We cannot produce budgets that are not inclusive of the coaching staff, the training equipment, nutrition for the players, one small or two small games internationally.

“So the budget that we initially produced, or crafted, was how you prepare an international team. But we have had to just continuously be scaling down, scaling down, because we’ve just not been afforded the opportunity to execute certain things on the budget.

“I mean, paying for the type of continuous physical training that is required, paying for the fellows travelling to play in any country, that alone can easily cost you $10 million. But all in all, right now what we’re trying to do is cover the funds to go to Oman — the travel, logistics, and accommodation.

“That’s what we’re trying to cover. We’ve gotten a commitment of $3 million from JOA. We’ve gotten a commitment of, let’s say, a combination of $3 million from the Government. The Government is giving $2 million from the Ministry of Sports and $1 million from SDF (Sport Development Foundation). So far, we have appealed and begged for more money. And hopefully, the budget for the tickets to go to Oman is about almost $7 million and accommodation is almost $2 million.”

Jamaica will participate in World Cup Pool B against Egypt, India, and Switzerland.