Throwdown to return in September

By Morissa Lindsay

After two years of no competitive action as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the well-known Barbados Ninja Throwdown returns to Featherbed Lane in St. John and promises to be an exciting affair, says founder Delano Hinds.

With Kure Oxygen as the official title sponsor for the Barbados Ninja Throwdown scheduled for Saturday, September 3, Hinds said while local registration so far has not been the best, he is hoping to see an improvement.

Participants from the United States of America (USA), Germany, France as well as Canada will be represented. Former athlete Donovan Bailey, a notable sprinter with Jamaican and Canadian heritage will make a guest appearance.

Those competing will hope to dethrone defending men’s and women’s champions Adam Rayl and Melia Ochsner who are both from the USA.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY, Hinds explained that so far there are nine locals registered and a total of 30 confirmed flights booked for the event so far with 20 of those scheduled to take part.

Hinds, however, would like to see those numbers skyrocket because from his perspective, the more competitors the better not just for the Ninja Throwdown event but for Barbados’ tourism which for him is the bigger picture.

“We are happy to say that we have thirty people booked and confirmed. We have four people from Germany coming, one person from France as well and it is going to be a good mix with mainly people from the United States,” Hinds said.

The competing divisions are listed as matured kids, pre-teens, teens and the elites which is the premier category. Hinds announced that the winners in both male and female elite divisions will take home USD$5, 000, the second position goes home with USD$1, 000 and the third place is USD$500.

Hinds revealed that this year’s organising committee has planned some activities to give the tourists a taste of Barbados and what it has to offer.

“What we are doing for the first thirty people who would have booked their flights, again you don’t have to be competing.

“If they are competitors, family, friends or whatever, we open that up so that they could participate in the scheduled activities, complimentary of course.

“So, you get a non-alcoholic dinner at Oistins, a beach day at Copacabana Barbados and then we have a catamaran cruise for the first thirty people,” he told Barbados TODAY.

According to Hinds, this year the focus is to develop quality athletes to take on obstacle courses.

“My dream is to really see more locals, especially the youth come out and participate. Obviously, that can’t necessarily happen all the time so my focus has been on trying to get this up to an international and recognisable standard,” he stated.

Those who signed up to participate in the Kure Barbados Ninja Throwdown have the luxury of training every Saturday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. free of charge at Hinds’ Featherbed Lane facility. Persons also have the option of visiting Beyond Limits Gym in Wildey (owned by Ryan Griffith) where obstacles are set up for those who would like to get in shape before the tournament.

Since Levar Tull won the international event as a first-timer in 2018, no other Barbadian has been that successful. Therefore, Hinds is encouraging local participants to sign up with the deadline being Monday, August 15 at a registration cost of BDS$80 for the elite section and BDS$30 for teens, pre-teens and kids.

As the founder of the Barbados Ninja Throwdown, Hinds expressed that as a tourism-based island, more is needed to attract tourists to the island.

“We are a tourism-based island and the question I want to pose is are we doing enough to show that tourism is our number one industry? And that is a question I am asking in general because things are becoming more expensive.

“It is costing more to travel to Barbados and that is one of the things that the European ninjas have said that it is costing us an arm and a leg to get here. One of the Germans is flying from Germany to Toronto and from Toronto to Barbados just to get here because that is the cheapest flight. The point is that the flights to Barbados are costing too much.

“If we are opening up for more internationals, they need to leave here and say yes that we are going to come back to Barbados for sure next year. Not, oh it was a great competition; kind of expensive to get there but nonetheless a great competition. I want people to come to Barbados and be like okay we are coming back. As soon as we announce the ninja throw, they are booking flights. That is the reaction you want and I can only do my part and various persons in the tourism industry could do their part,” Hinds said.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb