By Emmerson Campbell
Fitness Express will be offering hampers of supplements to each competitor who will participate in the third Malta Supreme Hugh Ross Classic (HRC) which will be held on July 28 at the National Cultural Centre.
This giveaway and the dates of the regional preliminary meets were disclosed yesterday at a media briefing by the HRC Committee at the Wind Jammer Hotel.
CEO of Fitness Express, Jamie McDonald, stated that his company has sponsored body building shows which include the 2010 HRC in the past by contributing prizes after each show but this time he will be doing it a bit differently.
Said McDonald: “We at Fitness Express would like to thank the Hugh Ross Classic Committee for approaching us and having us be a part of this endeavor for this year. We were on board with the HRC in 2010 but what we are doing this year is a bit different generally. Fitness Express comes on board with bodybuilding shows and we offer gift hampers and prizes with regards to trophies, but we are doing it a bit different after all of the regional shows to have all the participants ready for the main show, we will be offering supplementation hampers for each participant.”
McDonald said the reason for this new approach was to make sure that the athletes for the HRC are in the best shape as possible.
“The logic of this is to get them ready for the show and to make sure that they are in the best possible shape so we will get the highest level of competition possible for the Hugh Ross Classic. We are excited to see how this is going to go and hopefully this will become a mainstay for the Hugh Ross Classic,” said Mc Donald.
Meanwhile, Technical Coordinator for the HRC Andre Poonai, revealed that the four preliminary shows will be held in Linden at the Mackenzie Sports Club on May 12, Uitvlugt Sports Club one week later, Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) on May 26 and on June 2 at Rose Hall.
The preliminary show in Linden will only be open to Lindeners and the same will apply to the other designated areas.
Poonai said that because of the regional preliminary competitions, this year’s HRC will be the best yet.
“The Hugh Ross Classic 2012 has taken on a different dimension with which we will have preliminaries before the finals at the Cultural Centre and the preliminaries will be held at four locations outside of the Cultural Centre in other to get the best competitors for the final show. The second reason for the preliminaries is to promote fitness as a lifestyle across the country.”
Poonai added: “At these regional shows, we hope to have jumping castles for kids, sponsors showcasing their products as well as games for adults, but the whole point of it is to get people to come in and see what fitness can be and not just push it down their throats, not all of us want to look like a bodybuilder or have the discipline as bodybuilders but some of us can learn from what bodybuilders do and use it as a healthy lifestyle that is what the HRC is trying to do this year again.”
The top two bodybuilders in each category at the regional shows will be on stage at the finals at the HRC. An estimated number of 40 athletes will take the stage at the National Cultural Centre.
The musclemen will be placed in the four standard categories, namely: bantamweight, lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight and a category for women called the female figure category.
The female figure category will be based more on being toned with proper symmetry as opposed to being ripped with muscles.
There will also be a male and a female guest poser at the event.
Sponsors on board so far for the HRC are the City Mall, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Wind Jammer Hotel where the HRC’s guest posers will be staying, Mohamed’s General Store, Fazia’s Collection and Hand in Hand Mutual Life Insurance Company.
