Kevin’s handing out some ref justice

Kevin will be one of the referees and judges at the games, which officially get underway on Thursday - although some competitions are already underway.

A man with about 40 years’ experience in martial arts, Kevin says this will be the biggest honour of his career.

“I never got to fight in a world championship - I only ever got to be involved in the Europeans - so this is a massive achievement for me,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to being involved. It should be very competitive although it’s hard to know what the standard will be like.

“I have seen clips of the Spanish and French and they seem like the men to beat but it’s difficult to know the standard.”

Kevin’s involvement is not the only local association with the games.

A number of the Banbridge Karate club members will be acting as time keepers plus there will be one local competitor .

“It could be hard for him as we don’t know who or what he’s going to be up against,” said Kevin.

“It’s a massive honour for the club to have so many people involved and I just hope that everyone comes out and supports the Games.”