THE long-time art of Archery is now a focus of the Guyana Sport Shooting Federation (GSSF), who officially launched Archery Guyana (AG) yesterday with an official ceremony at the Carifesta Sport Complex, Carifesta Avenue.Guyana, now a member of the World Archery Federation (FITA) following a unanimous decision at its Congress last month, has been moving apace to develop the sport with further inspiration coming from Colombian and World Archery Americas coach Mr Diego Torres.
Torres was in Guyana to conduct a PVC Archery Development Seminar over the last week and was one of the driving forces behind the launch of (AG)
During the launch, GSSF president Vidushi Persaud indicated that the initiative is a historic one locally, adding, “Our historical sentential attachment to archery has blossomed over the past week, into a real prospect of Guyana’s participation in the Olympics in the field of archery.”
Coach Torres, who is also an Olympian, confessed his love for the sport adding that the PVC programme was developed as a low-cost sport for persons of all ranks, noting, “Archery is about values, Archery is about friend. Archery is about fair play and I’m so happy because I’m finally here and the people are very interested.”
Permanent Secretary (PS) Alfred King, who officially opened Archery Guyana following a successful couple of shots, echoed the sentiments of GSSF boss Persaud.
The PS stated, “We always thought that outside of boxing that gave us that little glimmer of hope of competing on the international stage when we once got that bronze medal, that there might very well be an opportunity for us doing well or even better if we consider archery.”
He called for the GSSF to utilise the momentum gained with the launch and push to decentralise the sport and have it among the indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, Torres had members of the GSSF perform an exhibition shoot with their recently constructed PVC bows before he demonstrated his skill with his professional bow. (Stephan Sookram)