As many members of the Muay Thai community in Ontario know, in the Summer of 2021 a new Board of Directors came together to help navigate the community through post-pandemic reopening. Being entirely new to leadership of the Muaythai Ontario organization, there was a steep learning curve for all the new Board members. As a volunteer-driven organization, the new Board members have done their best to learn not only how to lead the community, but also to learn the technical aspects of running a non-profit organization.

Although the Board was quick to restart event sanctioning and provincials tournament hosting, some of those other technical aspects did not receive proper attention. One of those aspects is the recording and publication of Annual General Meeting (AGM) minutes. We, the MTO Board of Directors, regret that AGM minutes have not been circulated for the AGM held in October 2021, or the AGM held in July 2022. We understand that although everyone in the community was invited to attend the AGM, those who could not attend may have been waiting for an official communication about those meetings. We sincerely apologize for this oversight, and commit to better communication in the future.

With that being said, below is the summary of the AGM held in April 2023. 

 

Annual General Meeting of Muaythai Ontario

Date: April 28th 2023

Board Members in Attendance: 

     Kru Yai Alin Hălmăgean, President

     Kru Yai Laura Vuculescu, Vice-President of Judges, Referees & Rule Sets

     Kru Yai Matthew Jao, Vice-President of Communications

     Kru Yai Dylan Benitez, Secretary

     Sam Skinner, Vice President of Administration 

MTO Community Members in Attendance: 18

 

President Kru Yai Alin Leading the Meeting

 

Funding & Financials:

MTO’s major concern coming out of the pandemic was to sort MTO’s financial situation.

Debts

  • In 2021, the new Board quickly learned that MTO had outstanding tax balances dating back to 2015. Thankfully as of the present meeting, the tax balance owing has been completely paid off, including six years from 2015 to 2021. 
  • Also in 2021, the new Board learned that the previous MTO Board took a $40,000 government loan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This loan has now been completely repaid.

Costs

  • MTO pays for event liability insurance, which costs the organization at least $10,000 every year.
  • The website hosting costs for muaythaiontario.org costs MTO approximately $2,500 every month ($30,000) per year.
  • Ajahn Suchart is responsible for developing curricula and administering educational events including coaching seminars, Poo Choi seminars, and the year-end Thai Cultural Celebration and MTO Awards banquet. Kru Yai Laura is responsible for the administration of every competitive event, including scheduling officials, overseeing weigh-ins, overseeing refereeing, revising rule sets, developing curricula and administering officials seminars, and much more. Because of their immense responsibilities on the Board, these two members each receive a monthly salary 

 

Relationship with the Ministry

Muaythai Ontairo enjoys a close relationship with Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport (MTCS). Muaythai Ontario is recognized as an official Provincial Sport Organization, which gives legal authority to the organization to sanction Muay Thai events. In 2018, through the Ontario Amateur Sports Fund application process, the Ministry and MTO entered into a contract stating that MTO would receive funding annually, so long as regular reports to the Ministry are submitted. Within the Board of MTO, Sam Skinner was recently voted in as the new VP of Administration, and is responsible for submitting formal reports to the Ministry.

The main focus of both the Board and the Ministry is to ensure that the sport and the community is growing. This includes MTO growing the sport to include more clubs, athletes, coaches, and officials. 

A major limitation for MTO is that we are limited to provincial authorities. The community must remember that Muaythai Ontario and Muaythai Canada are separate organizations with different people as directors. Presently, Muaythai Canada is not recognized by Sports Canada. This prevents Muay Thai from accessing avenues of funding at the national level. This also hinders MTO’s ability to engage on the international level.

 

Events Sanctioning

MTO’s main focus and responsibility is to sanction and facilitate safe competitive events. In 2022, MTO sanctioned and administered twenty-two successful Muay Thai events. MTO recognizes that competitive events grow the sport and community. We are happy to see that events are selling out of tickets and event organizers are always looking for more fighters. There are many opportunities to show the art of Muay Thai in Ontario, and MTO looks forward to more events in 2023.

 

Common Questions

There are some recurring questions from the community that MTO would like to address.

What is the state of professionalizing Muay Thai in Ontario?

Kru Yai Alin is leading the effort toward professionalization in Ontario. There are some major hurdles. Professional shows come with huge upfront costs, such as $40,000 for commissioning, $20,000 for a venue. In Kru Yai Alin’s experience, professional shows can cost up to $150,000 before considering payroll for officials and possible revenue from ticket sales. Ontario’s Athletics Commissioner and the Athletics Control Act also imposes strenuous medical tests on athletes, which can serve as a barrier to competition. Kru Yai Alin is working diligently to professionalize Muay Thai in Ontario so that Muaythai Ontario can sanction and administer both amateur and professional competitive events. This will take lots of time and lobbying of the Ontario government.

 

MTO Professional Development Courses

As the sport of Muay Thai is growing in Ontario, MTO is trying to keep up with the demand. This includes facilitating professional courses for both coaches and officials. Unfortunately, as a volunteer-driven organization, although demand is high for such courses, resources are low. The facilitating of coaches and officials courses is important, but MTO tries not to overlap courses with sanctioned events, as sanctioned events take priority.

Nevertheless, MTO is committed to facilitating four professional courses per year, one Coaches Course and one Officials Course hosted in the Greater Toronto Area, and one Coaches Course and one Officials Course hosted in the Ottawa Region each year. We regret that dates and times of the courses will not always fit with everyone’s schedule. As a community, we are all working together to pack our weekends with MTO-sanctioned events, MTO professional courses, and occasional holidays with family.

We also urge the community to remember that these courses cannot be shortened or rushed. Coaches and Officials Courses are necessary to keep all athletes safe within their training facilities and during sanctioned competitions. MTO is dedicated to athlete safety, and we cannot compromise any information in the name of expediency. This is especially significant for combat sports, as concussion awareness and safety needs to be properly addressed at every opportunity.

 

Questions from the Community Attendees:

What happened between the “old” MTO Board and the “new” MTO Board? The community would like clarification on this issue.

When the pandemic closures forced sports facilities to close in the Spring of 2020, the previous MTO Board of Directors left their positions. We cannot be sure why they did so, but we can empathize with perhaps more pressing life issues, such as family health and business survival during such an uncertain time. During the Summer of 2021, with reopening on the horizon, Ajahn Suchart reached out to the community to form a new Board of Directors. The current Board of Directors is grateful to the previous members for their cooperation and accessibility during the transition process. We are all happy to see the Muay Thai community has bounced back so quickly after being completely shut down.

 

Can we explain the difference between MTO events and WAKO events?

WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organizations) Canada works with Kickboxing Ontario, which is recognized as a Provincial Sport Organization by the Ministry the same way as MTO. Thus, Kickboxing Ontario and WAKO Canada work as the legal sanctioning authority of the sport of kickboxing the same way that MTO is the legal sanctioning authority of the sport of Muay Thai.

What this means is that there are two different organizations that are responsible for sanctioning their respective sports. MTO cannot legally sanction a kickboxing competition, and WAKO Canada and Kickboxing Ontario cannot legally sanction a Muay Thai competition.

MTO does not discourage member athletes and coaches from participating with both organizations. In fact, an athlete has many opportunities to gain competitive experience from both organizations. However, the community must be aware that they are dealing with two different organizations and two different sports. This means that MTO cannot supervise any athlete injuries that occur during WAKO events, including possible head or concussion injuries. If a coach allows their athlete to compete in both organizations, the responsibility is on the coach to monitor their athlete’s health.