Govt gives nod to Archery Region 5 bid
ACTING PRESIDENT Dr Constantino Chiwenga has pledged Government support for the country’s bid to host the 2026 edition of the Archery Region 5 games.
He was speaking during an interaction with the Zimbabwe Archery Team that paid him a courtesy call yesterday following their participation at the Region 5 tournament held in Walvis Bay, Namibia from August 22 to August 24.
The Zimbabwe Archery Team was represented by two squads at the competition, the national team and a developmental team, each consisting of 16 archers.
The national team got bronze in the 3D category while the development team finished third in the 3D animals category and had silver medals in the bulls’ eye event.
Acting President Chiwenga, himself a sports hunting enthusiast, showed deep knowledge of the sport telling Archers about its origins which started as a technique of hunting, and then later for warfare before it finally evolved to become a sports code.
“The nation in its Leaving No-One Behind mantra will support Zimbabwe’s bid to host the 2026 regional tournament,” said Acting President Chiwenga.
“I believe that hosting such a prestigious tournament will further elevate our standing in sports and provide a platform to showcase our nation’s hospitality and organisational capabilities.
“As you prepare for this, I urge you to continue honing your skills and to approach each opportunity with the same determination and excellence that you have displayed so far.
“I urge the Sports Recreation Commission and its parent Ministry to focus on such developmental initiatives in sports codes that have a minority status,” said Acting President Chiwenga.
Girls team captain Ivy Blue Nice said she is upbeat to do even better in the game and make her country proud.
“Archery has taught me leadership, discipline, and hard work. I look to further bring honour to my country and will start training with an eye on Olympics qualification.”
Boys captain Musa Kurenzvi said, “I wish to take archery forward and get the opportunity to represent Zimbabwe again.”
Nathan Chanakira and Jonathan Howard said their dream is to do well on the international stage and their dream is to go to the Olympics. Team coach Rob Jackson hopes Zimbabwe will succeed in their bid to host the tournament which he says has many downstream benefits.
“Our AGA (Africa Genesis Archers) Zimbabwe representatives that sit on the African Federation board have secured the bid to host either the 2026 or 2027 AGA Federation Tournament in Zimbabwe, depending on the quality of our project presentation.
“This is a massive honour, and opportunity to put an excellent business plan forward to be voted on by all members in the AGA Africa Federation in less than two months,” said Jackson.
Zimbabwe Archery Association president Lona Bartosz said their target is to see the current crop of Archers competing at the Olympics emulating the likes of David Milne who competed at the 1980 Olympics and Gavin Sutherland who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“Zimbabwe is fielding two schools’ teams, a national and a development team, and continues to achieve very pleasing results encouraging for the development of young athletes on the path to Olympic and World Games.
“We are very excited to see these young archers develop their skills and knowledge in the sport and hope to fol-low them in their dreams of an archery-fulfilled future,” said Bartosz.