The South African team consisting of 24 Protea archers and 12 SANIFAA archers formed part of the 636 archers represented by 25 countries to attend this international archery tournament.

Our medal haul was made up of 13 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals and the South African team were truly welcomed by host country Germany. The South African team featured on the front page of the local newspaper the morning after the Team of Nations March through the main street of Dahn.

The five-day tournament was shot on five different ranges for the senior archers with a dedicated range for the juniors.  Each range consisting of 28 targets with marked distances from 20ft to 80 yards. In this type of archery discipline, it is the assessment of the surroundings where the target is placed, perfect bow-tuning, concentration and mental preparedness that would distinguish the top archers from the rest.

From day one of the competition the South African team had to brave wet weather conditions and extremely difficult ranges, set up in the surrounding forests of Dahn.  Slippery and muddy conditions as well as the darkness in the forest also forced the South Africans to adapt very quickly and focus on every arrow that was shot.

After the first day of competition the junior archers were in top positions in the senior male freestyle and bowhunter as well as the bowhunter ladies team in first, second, and third respectively.  Danelle Wentzel and Dimitri Amado both shot a new world record for the Junior Female Freestyle and the Junior Male Bowhunter style in the Field Round.

The second day of competition did not produce any changes in the positions for the South African team.  Koos de Wet, Jakkie Flemming, Rika Landsberg, Herman Fourie, Dimitri Amado and Danelle Wentzel kept their first position ranking with Dimitri setting another new world record score of 541/560 in the JMBU style for the Hunter round.

As fatigue started to settle in, the concentration and focus started to drop which resulted in only a few archers managing to obtain a full score in the animal round on the third day of the tournament.  Koos de Wet, Kobus Clarence, Willem van Schalkwyk, Wesley Gates and Johan van Stryp all obtained a full score of 560/560 for the animal round and therefore equaled the current World Record in their respective styles.

The South Africans kept their lead in the top three ranking archers of each style they competed in for the next two days of the tournament with Danelle Wentzel shooting another two new World records on day four and five of the competition.

South Africa also won the team style competition in the Male Freestyle Unlimited and the Male Bowhunter Unlimited division.

It’s been a month to remember for our eagle-eyed archer Septimus Celliers.

On Saturday, 10 July, he once again shattered all continental and national records when he shot a score of 1418, just a point short of the world record, at the Claudette Shiers FITA Star Tournament.

Then on Wednesday, 21 July his name was read out as part of the South African team to do battle at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India later this year.

Commonly known as Seppie, Celliers, who is based in Pretoria, achieved his 1418 target just a year after shooting his first 1400 at the same tournament in Durban.

Shooting under strict FITA International Conditions, in a tournament recognised by the International Archery Federation, Celliers’ achievement means that out of the 144 arrows he shot at distances ranging from 90-30m, only 22 arrows were not a dead-centre “10″.

Celliers is now only the second archer in the world to have shot this score. Peter Elzinga of the Netherlands holds the record of 1419. And to make it even sweeter for Celliers is the fact that in his shooting from the 50m distance he shot 358 to equal the world record at this distance.

He was also part of the victorious team who recently returned from the Archery World Cup in Turkey with the gold medal and will be hoping his fine run of form continues at the Commonwealth Games.

Selwyn Moskowitz, president of Archery South Africa, was full of praise for Celliers’ accurate shooting. “When you consider that there are six million registered archers worldwide this is superb. He already holds the world record at 30m.

“The way the competition works is that archers will shoot a total off 144 arrows — 36 at 90 metres, 36 at 70m, 36 at 50m and 36 at 30m. People would think that shooting would be easiest from 30m but that’s not always the case, because there are so many variables like wind, and sun-reflections to take into account.

“Durban has obviously been a great record venue for him, but normally it’s Gauteng that sees the really good scores.”

Moskowitz is also full of hope for our chances of medals at the Commonwealth Games. “We’ve had a lot of success around the globe this last year and hopefully it will continue in New Delhi. We rank first in both men’s and womens’ categories. Jorina Coetzee, still a teenager, won silver in Korea last year, and looking at the competition she is virtually guaranteed a medal, although I’m not sure what colour.”

The archery team to do duty in New Delhi is: Jorina Coetzee, Nico Benade, Septimus Cilliers, Jacobus de Wet. Manager/coach: Barbara Manning

The current world team champion USA were the favourites to win this match after having beaten South African at the 2009 Ulsan World Championships in Korea 235-225. But Riaan Crowther, Nico Benade and Seppie Cilliers had other ideas.

The USA (Ben Cleland, Braden Gellenghien and Rodger Willet, Jr.) took the lead from the start 2-0 (2-1).

Both teams shot two hits in the second set. So the USA were still leading, 3-1.

South Africa shot a perfect third end, while the USA had more trouble with the wind and managed only one hit, allowing South Africa to come back 3-3.

The South African archers stayed in the yellow in the next set, but this time their performance was watched by the Americans. South Africa was perfect again in the fifth set (for a total of nine hits in a row!) to win two more set points and lead 6-4. Both teams shot only one hit in the sixth set, which meant victory 7-5 for the South Africans. It’s the first ever gold medal at this level for this team!

The match really became more intense in the third set with three hits from the South Africans, in which the Americans answered with three hits in the next set.

What’s more, these teams were shooting in quite difficult windy conditions. South Africa handled this final really well, and by shooting three perfect sets in a row, they put the pressure on the Americans coming into the sixth set and won their first final.

They managed to handle the pressure of this big event and be more accurate in their shooting than their American counterparts.

Following the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to incorporate the sport into the world federation, para-archery now falls under the auspices of SANAA and will be included in the upcoming tournament to be held at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria between 24-27 April.

A record of over 170 participants have qualified for the tournament, which will run concurrently with the Continental Youth Olympic Games Qualifier.

Archery is a test of accuracy, strength and concentration. The sport is open to athletes with a physical disability (including spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, amputee) in three functional classes (Open, Standing, and Wheelchair). It comprises of individual and team events, standing and wheelchair competitions, as well as events for visually impaired. Competitors shoot at a target marked with 10 scoring zones, from a set distance.

The governing body is the International Archery Federation (FITA), in relation with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Para-archery competitions follow the FITA rules with a few minor modifications as detailed in the IPC Archery Rules & Regulations. Presently 54 countries compete but the number is still growing.

As a Paralympic sport, archery was originally a means of rehabilitation and recreation for people with a physical disability. The first archery competitions for people with a disability were held during the first International Games for the Disabled in Stoke Mandeville, England, in 1948, with the participation of 130 athletes from two countries.

In 1960, archery was introduced to the world as a Paralympic sport during the Games in Rome. Since then, archery has always been included in the Paralympic Games competition programme.

With the compound category still quite new to the rest of African, seven countries were represented.

Teenage sensation, Jorina Coetzee again showed her silver medal at World Championships in South Korea last year was no fluke.

Shooting in the searing desert heat, with a mild wind blowing, The Mpumalanga archer shot her 12-arrow match 108-104 against her Namibian opponent to bring home the gold. This is yet another addition to her already bulging trophy cabinet.

Then in the men’s compound category, Bloemfontein based Riaan Crowther silenced the crowd when he started off with a 25 against his Namibian arrival’s 27.

Then on the second end, he equalled his opponent with a score of 54, followed by both countries on 81. The last three arrows — X-10-10, brought Riaan home with a 111-109 lead to win gold.

Earlier in the competition, another South African competitor, Karen Hultzer, was eliminated in the semi-finals of the recurve category.

The event will be the biggest internationally recognised archery event yet held on the African continent and goes to show that the South African National Archery Association is able to host a world-class championship.

The two competitions will be held concurrently with the 60th South African National Archery Championships. Held under the banner of the International Federation (FITA) and Federation of African Archery (FAA), representing some 34 African countries, the event will be held at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, Tshwane from 24-27 April.

According to Andrew Omala, president of the Ugandan based FAA: “South Africa has never hosted the Olympic Qualifying event which serves as a great opportunity to bring the African countries closer together and acts as a showcase for the sport of archery on the continent”.  Omala also serves on the continental Olympic Committee.

South Africa won the bid against Egypt and Libya primarily because of their excellent facilities and the development programme they have in place as a consequence of the Continental Games. “Inspection of their facilities reveal a world-class standard able to host Olympic events and the ability to cater for the sport and its fans”, he concluded.

According to Barbara Manning, secretary general of the South African Archery Association, the awarding of the Olympic Youth Qualifier and African Games is the beginning of an exciting era for the sport and its fans.

“We raised the bar at the 2009 SA Championships by ensuring that many sporting disciplines benefited from the event, especially the disabled. The 2010 Championships will be no different, in that we will be creating job opportunities, showcasing the capabilities of Africa to the world and leaving a legacy for regional archers”, she added.

The inaugural Youth Olympic Games will be held in Singapore between 14-26 August.

Said Manning: “To host the Youth Olympic Qualifier and Continental Championships is an honour for the sport. It contributes to the international profile of the city as a major sports event City.  The support of the sport authorities and the High Performance Centre has enabled us to create opportunities for all communities in the city”.

The event carries world ranking status and participants from all over the world are expected to compete in the event.

The announcement that is warmly welcomed by the National Archery Federation follows their participation in the 2009 Judges Seminar held in Wiesbaden, Germany in October, where both women sat for the international examination.

To qualify as an International Archery Judge, the candidate must have served at least two years as a provincial judge, three years as a national judge and another three years as a Continental Judge. During that time they must have judged both national and world ranking tournaments, adding to their learning experience.

According to Barbara Manning, secretary general of the South African National Archery Association (SANAA), “Much of the hard work has paid off.  Once the judges had indicated their willingness to volunteer their services further, arrangements were made for them to write the Continental Judges Examination in Rome two years back. Here they excelled, achieving higher than the 80% pass rate mark”.

“Having two women International Judges from South Africa gives us greater involvement in the international sporting community.  Their expertise will now be used to guide and mentor other judges who work with them on the archery range”, she added.

The accreditation as FITA International Judges Candidate is valid for the 2009-2013 period.

Ms Séverine Freymond of World Archery, who congratulated them on their achievement and wished them success in their new tasks, delivered news of their achievements.

Both International Judges will be officiating at the upcoming World Ranking Olympic Youth Qualifier, Continental Championships and 60th SA National Archery Championships to be held at the High Performance Centre, Tshwane (Pretoria) between 24-27 April 2010.

Consisting of 15 modules, the kit covers areas of the code of ethics, archery anatomy, warm up and physical conditioning; modules for all disciplines of the sport, archers with disabilities, fight against doping and a complete training plan module.

The kit is a combination of four-years work by internationally acclaimed archers from over 10 countries, all acknowledged as experts in their respective fields and compiled  by Pascal Colmaire, the International Archery Federation (FITA) development and education director.

Following on the development and mass participation programme recently  implemented and made available to the 61 clubs under it’s jurisdiction, the intermediate level manual covers many areas previously neglected and gives aspiring coaches complete and practical guidelines on compound and field archery.

According to Barbara Manning, SANAA Secretary, “As an amateur sport structured around volunteers, there has never been a structured and defined set of guidelines on tuning equipment and archers form.  Now the International Federation, has pooled the world experts in the field and produced a definitive guide in these areas which can only lead to improving performance”.

“For a sport to progress coaches have to work with the athletes and for this they need the appropriate tools”.  This manual provides those tools, allowing a greater spread of correct coaching methods and implementing the strategy of coaches training coaches”, she added.

SANAA has adopted the FITA Coaches manual (Intermediate Level) as the standard against which all intermediate coaches will be evaluated.

Following hot on the heels of the SA team returning home from the Archery World Cup in China with the bronze team medal, and from Korea in the Archery World Championships with the women’s silver medal, SANAA has also set its sights on growing the sport at grass-roots level.

Manning says the provincial archery associations are being equipped with a complete development programme which takes the aspiring archer every step of the way from introducing the sport to tournament level using correct archery methodologies and practices.

Known as the Feathers and Arrows programme and developed by the International Federation (FITA), the programme allows the archer to work at his or her own pace, achieving milestones and being rewarded with colourful pins when certain levels of compliancy are achieved.

“Feathers and Arrows is essentially a road map for club level coaches to nurture, track and train archers in correct methods.  It has a number of triggers to identify talent and works at different levels to ensure that archers are continually stimulated and advance”.
“Consisting of a series of lessons and methods, which can take anything up to two years to complete, each kit consists of an individual archers record which monitors his or her progress, allowing immediate feedback and areas that need addressing, further attention or improvement”.

“But more importantly, Feathers and Arrows gives the club a pre-made plan on how to proceed from scratch and to development and keep aspiring archers”, she added.

Further information is available from the SANAA website at www.sanaa.org.za

Shooting in the compound women’s category, the South African, aged just 17, can now claim to be one of the top archers in the world.

Ranked 21st in the seeding round, Jorina went through the semi-finals of the 45th world championships, shooting against the higher ranked Italian archer Laura Longo.

A score of 113:110 saw the Mpumalanga competitor triumph and go through to the gold/silver medal match against top-seeded Russian archer Albina Loginova.

Taking to the shooting line in hot weather conditions, bothered by a confusing wind but backed with the support of the SA Team, it was a nerve-wracking competition, ending in a score of 106:116 to the Russian and Jorina taking the silver medal.

Jorina was the youngest archer of participants from over 100 member nations.

Being ranked as the No2 archer in the world is a noble accolade and testament to her coach, Josef Preisser, the many hours of practice, dedication to the sport and SANAA support.

An ecstatic Coetzee said on the SANAA (SA National Archery Association) website: “Maybe I surprised the world because I am 17 and someone who would not be expected to win a silver medal at the world championships?

“In my mind I knew I could do it. When I shot the youth world championships two months ago, I already knew that I would come here, so it was good preparation. Between juniors and elite, the distance is the same, so technically it is the same. But off course the archers are more mature. There is more density in the level. Now I’m very proud of my achievement and I’m very happy.

“I hope now to keep shooting at high level and one day win gold. The other good news is that I will be able to play another youth world championships in two years. I hope also to compete in the World Cup soon. There are just plenty of events and medals to go for!”

A FITA tournament is an internationally recognised format conforming to world standards and presided by a qualified judge.  In the tournament 144 arrows are shot in total, with 36 arrows shot at each distance of 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres.  Each arrow counts for a maximum of 10 points, with the dead centre of the target counting as an “X” or 10.

In total, the maximum score that can be shot is 1440.

Septimus shot a verified score of 1407, the second African to have shot a score over 1400 and in so doing joined the elite “FITA Club 1440”.  Less than 20 archers out of a registered base of 6 million have ever shot over 1400.

At 30 metres, he shot a full score of 360 points, only missing the dead centre “x” on three occasions, setting a new world record.

“Seppie” is the current South African compound men national champion and has been selected as part of the SA team to compete at the world archery championships in Korea in September.