The Archery Association of Namibia (AAN) vice president, Lutz Wahlers, says the national body and its athletes have always been self-funded by the archers when travelling to international tournaments.
Responding to questions by The Namibian Sport, Wahlers says: “ We have dedicated and determined archers who know what they are capable of and I think it is due to this mindset that we have the amount of podium finishes at these tournaments that we do.”
Wahlers was reflecting on the suspended financial grants by the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture towards international competitions of the different sport codes two months ago.
“Tournaments further afield is where the problems arise and the number of archers attending is reduced mainly due to the cost of flights and accommodation,” says Wahlers.
“Quality above quantity. The SA Nationals which takes place every year in March or April in Johannesburg is always self-funded by the archers, fortunately this tournament (next year) is ‘just around the corner’ and therefore the financial layout is relatively small enabling any archer with the desire to enter the international stage to save up for a year and attend such a tournament.”
“Last year’s 14th African Archery Championships in Ivory Coast was not attended by Namibia, the first time in many years, due to insufficient funds on the side of the archers.”
This year’s championships in Algeria, he says, almost went the same route for Namibia, but was saved by the Podium Performance Programme (PPP) which assisted in the funding of the flights.
He says as media reports have indicated, Namibia made a big impact at the Algeria championships, placing them second in the medal standings right after the hosting country, Algeria.
“So thanks to the PPP funding that was made possible. Reduced or cut funding will obviously impact the number of archers able to go to international tournaments, even more so for the para-archers as each para-archer has an agent/assistant travelling with them.”
This means that para-archers require double the funding of able-bodied archers to attend a tournament.
SPORT LEVY
Wahlers is also of the opinion that a ‘sport levy’ could be a step in the right direction for all Namibian athletes if handled correctly, and by the proper institutions to ensure funding goes where funding is needed.
“Corporate sponsorship is difficult for top tier archery as sponsors usually prefer large numbers of spectators for good promotion of their products.”
He says archery however generally does not attract such numbers to tournaments due to the nature of the sport which is quiet as total concentration is required.
“The spectators at large international archery events are mostly archers themselves and are fully aware of when to cheer for their favourite and when not to.”
GRASSROOT TALENT
“Scouting for grassroots talent is mostly by word of mouth and efforts are currently underway to reach out to schools.”
He says many learners, teachers and parents are not always aware archery and the pathway required to qualify for the Olympics.
He says the earlier the Olympic hopefuls start on the correct path, the better for the country as a whole, as the first major step would be to represent Namibia at Youth Olympics and reaching this stage will take years of training and absolute dedication.
“So starting early in life is imperative. Namibia does not have any dedicated facilities for archery, as a result archers wishing to train for the Olympics would do well in paying an extended visit abroad to other countries which have heavily invested in archery such as the UK, USA, Europe and South Korea.”
According to Wahlers training at an Archery Excellence Centre such as the one in Lausanne, Switzerland is important for top tier archers adding that most of our archers are self taught with some help from local coaches and friends who have been shooting for a while.
“World Archery makes a concerted effort to train up more coaches across the globe and this year Namibia has the opportunity to host such a course in October.”
The course would offer a World Archery Level 1 Coach which will enable the be conversant with World Archery rules, regulations and standards and give coaching lessons at a basic level.
“All our national tournaments are held in accordance with the international governing body for that discipline, without compromise. Even though Namibia has at least one IFAA Field and one World Archery Target tournament per month we cannot simulate the pressure experienced at the international tournaments and that is the reason we try to attend as many across the borders as possible, funds permitting.”
While many archers around the world would like to partake in as many tournaments as possible, some world bodies hold ‘mail-in’ competitions on a regular basis where each country holds a small tournament with the results being sent in to be evaluated thus giving a local archer the chance to get a global ranking score and see where they lie within the field of international competitors.
