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Jarrow's Burns School of Black Belts 3 prepares for the WTKA World Kick Boxing Championships in Italy as they return to international competition post-pandemic.

Members of Burns School of Black Belts 3 (BSBB), on Ellison Street, in Jarrow are preparing to compete in the WTKA World Kick Boxing Championships.

Sixteen members and their families will be flying to Italy to take part in the international tournament, which runs from Thursday, October 24, until Sunday, October 27.

Callum Dillion, who is head instructor at BSBB and one of the members competing, has explained to the Shields Gazette how important the tournament is for everyone at the club.

Members of Burns School of Black Belts, in Jarrow, are set to travel to Italy to compete in the WTKA World Kick Boxing Championships. | Other 3rd Party

He commented: “Everyone has been working towards this for years now, the team is made up of all ages but everyone who is competing has been training for at least four years.

“It is a tournament that we used to travel to every year; however, this will be our first time competing there since the Covid pandemic so it will be a whole new team this time around.

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“We’ve had a few local and national competitions to prepare for this but for many, this will be their first time fighting abroad.

“Everyone is really looking forward to it and the families and people associated with the club will all be coming with us so it will be a real team effort with everyone involved.”

Members of the club have taken part in bag packs in supermarkets across the borough to help raise money for the trip. | Other 3rd Party

The tournament is entirely self-funded, meaning that BSBB members and those closest to them have been on a hard fundraising drive for the last six months to ensure that they can compete in Italy.

Callum added: “Once the team was in place around six months ago, we set about fundraising by doing a number of different things.

“Some members have taken part in bag packs at various supermarkets in the area, there has been raffles etc. and a group of people even climbed Ben Nevis in an effort to raise money.

Some even climbed Ben Nevis in order to raise funds. | Other 3rd Party

“It has been none-stop fundraising for the last six months but we’ve done really well from it and it has been very good for team building.

“Everyone is just looking forward to the event now.”

You can keep up to date with BSBB in Jarrow by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/bsbb3.

Jarrow kick boxing team heads to world championships in Italy

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