Young archer’s aim is true

THE ART of archery is blooming for young Hennie Victor who has slowly started making a name for himself among his peers.

Even more so after he shot his personal best of 283 out of 300 during the Inter-Schools/Inter-Club Competition that was held recently by the Adventure Archery Club at the newly-established AGA-NC Vooruitsig Primary School range where 37 archers from Kimberley and Bloemfontein competed.

This nine year old from Eureka Primary School started with archery in 2021 at the age of seven and has proven that his aim is true.

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The young archer also recently shot a straight 50 during the same competition, meaning that all five of his arrows were shot into the bull to achieve a 50 straight score from a distance of 10 metres.

“I was quite shocked when I shot the 50, but I was also glad; it was a mix of emotions because it is a big thing for me,” he said.

When asked how he started in Archery, Hennie told the DFA that his parents’ passion was contagious.

“My mother and father both shoot for AGA-NC, and when I was seven years old, I asked them if I could try out shooting with a bow. I then started taking lessons from Uncle Schalk van der Merwe, who is the AGA-NC Coordinator. It is then that my father bought me a bow from Uncle Schalk.

“I then started practising at home in my backyard, just shooting at a target, and with every practice session, I became better, and I got used to holding the bow and releasing the arrow. It was then that I started getting formal lessons from Uncle Schalk.

“There are so many things you need to learn to be able to shoot your arrows straight,” added Hennie.

Hennie later took part in his first AGA-NC club competition, and during that event, he shot 183 out of 300, which admittedly is not too great but, after countless training sessions and practice sessions at home, Hennie managed to achieve his current personal best of 283-300, showing that hard work, good technique and determination pay off.

Being able to shoot with an average of above 260 out of 300 meant that Hennie could obtain his Northern Cape Colors as a cub archer for his club. A total of 17 people in the club received their national colours, including his mother and father.

The next nationals will be taking place between August 4-6 this year, and Hennie will be shooting for the first time as a junior archer.

When asked what he wants to achieve with archery in the future, the nine year old said that he has not thought about the future in that way yet, but it would be nice to one day represent his country and shoot for the national team.

According to Hennie, he is now focusing on the nationals coming up in October and making sure that his training sessions at home are done daily.

“My mother, father, and I are all practising now for nationals. Archery is a sport that we can do together as a family, and that is the nice part of it for me,” he said.