A lot of work and a strict budget are the foundations on which the opportunity to come to the Battle of the Nations for the teams of many countries are built. The further the country is located from a geographical point of view, the more expensive the road to the Championship is. HMBIA News asked Bryce Lightbody, HMB Australia team captain to tell us about how his country’s HMB team is preparing financially for a trip to the Battle of the Nations.

“Usually I work a lot of hours and try not to spend money. Previous years we’ve been lucky enough to receive small amounts of sponsorship from local businesses and we also run fundraisers. We’ve been trying to gain larger scale sponsorship for the team but so far no joy”, said Bryce.

2020 turned out to be a very difficult year for all of us. Australian HMB athletes are no exception. The Covid-19 epidemic has caused significant damage to the economies of many countries. Like many, Australia has suffered a tough lockdown and has yet to recover from such a blow. In addition, Australians fear that they will not be able to leave the country at all in July 2021 due to restrictions imposed in the country in connection with the virus.

“2020 has been a really challenging year for a lot of our team members, with lockdowns and lost jobs eating up funds. We’re still not sure if the Australian government will allow international travel in time for BotN 2021 but we’re going ahead with planning anyway. Individual teams will be running fundraisers to assist with costs but we really have to wait and see what 2021 looks like”.

In general, the recipe for accumulating the necessary funds for such a difficult and long journey is quite universal. We hope that 2021 will be more merciful to us and all viruses and pandemics will remain a thing of the past. We wish the Australian national team and its captain success in achieving their financial goals and thank the sponsors of the team and everyone who helps the fighters prepare for the trip through fundraising platforms and support them morally! We are sure that we will certainly meet the Australian team in the lists of the HMB World Championship Battle of the Nations – 2021 in Romania.

HMBIA News