IMMAA president John Kavanagh says he's hopeful proposal resolution will be passed at today's EGM in Cork.
The MMA body were told in 2016 that they would need three years of financial trading before being considered for state recognition. He says they have done everything that's been asked of them to gain recognition for the sport since the original proposal.
SBG Ireland head coach say the association's drafted proposal to Sport Ireland hope to be internally passed by IMMAA board on Saturday afternoon so the can make the proposal formal.
"We have proposals to put forward to the membership body. If they are voted in that will change our constitution slightly but we pretty much have our strategic plan done now - for the next four years. It ticks all the boxes that Sport Ireland ask us for- we have Garda vetting, child protection policies, coaching courses, all the work has been done,' explained the BJJ black belt.
Kavanagh says the organisation remained quiet in the public because of the mass amount of work that has been done behind the scenes. He also confirmed a pair of consultants were brought in to help with the board and members.
"It's been kind of quiet, we've had our heads down for the last year. We had two excellent consultants come in and help us with it the board together and the membership body. This Saturday is the final piece of that puzzle.
Churchtown's Kavanagh says lines of communication between IMMAA and Sport Ireland have remained open. He says the pair held early discussions regarding a future meeting.
The former MMA fighter says the body has done everything asked of them and wants them to be officially recognised as their own national body.
"We have already some communication with Sport Ireland on setting up the next meeting. I want to go to them when we have those proposals passed, and say: 'here we are; we've ticked all the boxes. We want to be our own national body,'
The decorated coach remained firm and optimistic with his stance, claiming they will not take no for an answer. He stated they body will re-propose if Sport Ireland have problems with the proposed submission.
"They might come back and say you did great on these but two points need to be fixed, and we'll go back and fix them; we'll fix them and propose again.
Straight Blast Gym Concorde owner spoke about the huge popularity of the sport on the Emerald Isle. Kavanagh relentlessly expressed his desire for recognition for the amateur side of the sport. Ireland claimed five medals at last year's IMMAF World Championships.
"We are not going anywhere, we are a big sport, a big membership, we have got big numbers. We had 'Wingman' there on Sunday and that's showing a slightly different side of it. This side is about the tippy-top 1% of professionals. As you guys know there is a huge base under the pyramid of people that just train for fun, and obviously the big amateur scene now - And those guys deserve the recognition that the boxers are getting, the table tennis players are getting, the swimmers. We are a real sport, like Pinocchio said: 'I'm a real boy,' - we are a real sport. We are going to them, we want regulation. We want to be told what we have to fix."
UPDATE ⚠️
Coach Kavanagh confirmed to OTB the motion was Unanimously passed by the IMMAA Board
Passed. Unanimously. 👍🏼😊
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) May 18, 2019
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