For the first time ever, an international archery tournament will be hosted in Kimberley.
The Africa Archery Federation Tournament will take place on Saturday, 2 July, and Sunday, 3 July, at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre (MSCC) in the city.
Africa Genesis Archery Northern Cape (AGA-NC) won the bid to host this prestigious event.
The national teams of AGA South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe will each be hosted in a city in their own country, from where they will compete virtually against the teams from the other participating countries.
In Kimberley, the South African junior, development and adult archery teams will get together.
The event will be broadcasted live by Kimberley TV via DigiTV.
One of the event coordinators, Dawid de Greeff, said during the two-day-tournament archers will compete in a bull’s eye as well as a 3D competition.
In the bull’s eye competition, archers shoot 15 arrows at an 80 cm Fita target at a 10 m distance, and then 15 arrows at a 15 m distance to get a score out of 300.
In the 3D competition, arrows are shot at six life-size 3D moulded animals.
Individual archers and teams with the highest overall scores are announced as winners of the tournament.
This event promises to offer entertainment for the whole family, said De Greeff.
A variety of food stalls, live music and entertainment, and exhibitions of local businesses will also be present at the MSCC, as well as suppliers of archery equipment.
On Saturday the grand opening ceremony takes place at 07:00, after which the competition will commence and continue until 17:00.
On Sunday the event will take place from 08:00 until about 14:30, followed by the prize-giving.
A further R100 000, approximately, is needed to cover some of the expenses of the event.
The coordinators thank the sponsors for making this event possible.
Growing archery as official NC sport
The Northern Cape has a rich archery history in the Bushmen, and hunting contributes a significant capital injection for the Northern Cape every year, the AGA-NC said.
The AGA-NC and the Northern Cape Sport and Recreation Authority recently partnered and are very excited to establish and grow archery as an official sport of the Northern Cape.
“Not only does the sport have the potential to draw many visitors to the province, but it also empowers women, children and persons with disabilities, and offers an opportunity to those who do not fit the mould for other sports,” the coordinators said.
Archery is considered one of the safest sports globally and does not require great physical ability or a huge capital to achieve success.
The sport nurtures concentration, focus, self-control, self-discipline, endurance, respect and many other character traits that all contribute to building confidence and establishing purpose.
Earlier in June, 47 archers from seven schools in the province competed in the Northern Cape interschools competition held at the Big Hole Driving Range in Kimberley.
At the event, 22 achers improved their personal best scores.
Hennie Victor was in the first place in the cubs (Gr. 2 and Gr. 3) category, with a score of 285/300, which was the highest score of the day.
Elrize de Greeff, a homeschooler, ended first in the primary school category with a score of 276/300, and Nurah Isaacs was first in the high school category with a score of 271/300.
Schalk van der Merwe’s score of 274/300 landed him a first place in the adult archers category.
- For more information on how to get involved, contact the AGA-NC coordinators by sending e-mail to nc@agarchery.co.za, or call De Greeff on 073-030-2909 or Schalk van der Merwe on 082-762-9838.
- Tickets and more information are available online at quicket.co.za (search: Archery) or qkt.io/AGAFT2022-tickets.
