Archers targeting Olympics 2024
Just over a year old, Archery is one of the newest and youngest of the sporting bodies on the scene, but according to President Rick Smith, has made some remarkable strides, thanks to the contribution of a few local businesses, the BVI Olympic Committee and World Archery.
“We have carefully laid out a road map, detailing where we want to go. Fortunately, because we are so passionate, we’ve gained recognition on the international scene and by World Archery. We’ve received 2 kits from World Archery and they are in the process of putting together a tournament to be held in Puerto Rico next July, specifically for developing programmes. We would have liked for the tournament to be held locally but unfortunately at this time, we do not have the proper equipment to do so,” Mr Smith said.
Hitting the schools
One of the Archery Association’s long term goals is to get to the 2024 Olympics and working alongside the Ministry of Education, Department of Sports and Youth Affairs as well as the private school sector, they plan to develop a comprehensive archery programme in the school system.
To achieve this, the association will be running the NASP (National Archery in the Schools Programme) NASP, which is a Kentucky based Archery programme that is now on a global scale, the Virgin Islands being the newest member.
“We have 4 Basic Archery instructor Trainers (BAIT) and one BAIT Specialist.” Explained Smith. “The BAIT Specialist can train further BAIT’s, whereas the BAIT’s can only train BAI’s (Basic Archery Instructors). To date, we have trained a number of public school PE teachers, a group form YEPS and one PE teacher form the Private school system. YEPS is already up and running, being the first to purchase an NASP kit, with Cedar International soon to follow. We hope to have a kit for each school by the end of the 2017 school year. Being that we are a small population, we figured the more students we get exposed to the sport at an early age, the better it would be to identify talent. We also meet on the college campus on weekends, where we can offer more personalised training.”
Components
The Archery Programme has five core components:
Adult Basic Archery Programme, (ABAP): This programme will be for those individuals who just want to receive basic training and shoot leisurely. It will be designed to build self-confidence of the archer. Members enrolled in this programme may enter local events.
Adult advanced archery programme (AAAP): This programme will be designed for the more serious archers, those who wish to enter regional and international events, Pan American games and even the Olympics.
Junior Olympic Archery Programme, (JOAP): This programme will be designed to take young archers from the primary schools right through high school and beyond, beginning with the NASP and then onto advanced training. On turning 18, if they are being groomed for Pan Am and Olympic games etc., they will be moved to the AAAP.
Pee-Wee Archery Programme, (PAP): Designed for the younger archers. They will be taught the basics and groomed for the JOAP programme.
Special Athletes Archery Programme, (SAAP): This programme will be designed for the physically challenged athletes, allowing them to enjoy physical activity, comradely and compete in local, regional and international events.
The Archery Association can be found every Saturday, from 1.00 P.M. until 4.00 P.M. on the grounds of HLSCC and on Sundays from 11.00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M.
Regular trips are also taken to practice on St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
All new Archers must take the Range Safety Course before being allowed to shoot and closed-up shoes must be worn to shoot.
This course is $25.00 in addition to the Range Fees which are $5 for children and $10 for adults.
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