New archery season under way
THE NORTHERN Cape’s first inter-schools and inter-club competition for 2023, Africa Genesis Archery (AGA), is scheduled to take place next Saturday, February 18 at Adventure Archery Club, 51 Anderson Road, Diamond Park, Kimberley.
Archers from various schools in Kimberley have already started their preparation for the new season, that runs from February to October, aiming for the gold ring (the bullseye) and working to accumulate a sufficient average score over the next few months, leading up to the Northern Cape provincial competition set to be held on August 5.
A good-enough average score will ensure that archers achieve a sufficient ranking to qualify for the provincial team and their provincial colours, which will be awarded at the upcoming national competition.
The junior and senior teams that will be announced at the Aga-northern Cape provincial competition on August 5 will represent the province at the Aga-south Africa national championship in Ekurhuleni, formerly known as the East Rand in Gauteng, and that’s where qualifying archers will receive their provincial colours in archery.
According to Dawid de Greeff (AGA-NC Administrator), AGA-NC outperformed expectations in their first year of participation last year.
“Two provincial teams (40
archers) represented the Northern Cape at the AGA-SA national championship in Paarl, 2022, for the first time in eight years, and brought back two silver medals.
“Dyln O’connell and Lilly Heuel from Eureka Primary, and two other archers, Tyra Adams and Nurah Isaacs, two homeschoolers, were taken up into the National Development Team, which represented South Africa against Canada, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe in December. The national teams will compete against these countries again on July 28–29, when they will all meet face-toface in South Africa,” he said.
Schalk van der Merwe, the
coordinator of AGA-SA in the Northern Cape, expressed his excitement and expectation for the growth of archery in the province over the next two years.
Van der Merwe said that new clubs are expected to start this year at Sol Plaatje University, Vooruitsig Primary (Kimberley), Orania, and Douglas.
AGA-NC also has a once-ineight-year opportunity this year to bid to host the 2024 National Championship in the Northern Cape, more specifically Kimberley, next year. The AGA-SA national, provincial, and inter-school championships usually witness in excess of 700 people, including archers and their families, flocking to the respective hosting city each year.
The Northern Cape Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture, as well as the Northern Cape Tourism Authority, support archery as a new sport in the province, and the vision is to see archers of all ages, genders, ethnicities, abilities, and disabilities participate in this sport that pioneered global equality in sport.
Archery levels the playing field in sports and offers the opportunity for everyone to participate in a sport.
And with all that said, this season is shaping up to be something to witness.