Age: 16 years
Sport: Athletics
Schools: Winfer Gardens Primary, Christ Church Secondary, West Demerara SecondaryTHIS week’s Sports Personality-of-the-Week is 16-year-old Joanna Archer, who has been slowly making her way through the ranks of achievements in the athletics arena. A distance athlete, Archer is set to make her debut as a National athlete when she represents Guyana at the Inter-Guiana ‘Goodwill’ Games later this month.
Though still in the developmental stages, the West Demerara Secondary student has long been noted as one to watch in years to come. She will compete in the Girls’ 800m and 1500m – her favoured distances – at the IGG.
Though the 800m is her preferred distance, Archer has shown that she has the endurance to take on longer distances. She recently won the female junior category of the annual COURTS 10K road race.
She was also a part of the Police Progressive Youth Club team, who clinched victory at the lucrative Boyce and Jefford Classic in Linden, where she dominated the women’s 3000m. She was also in the 1500m, prevailing over several seniors to finish second place in the international race.
She was two-time Champion Female Youth Club Athlete at the Guyana Police Force Inter-Division Championships and is also a National School Championships gold medallist and multiple silver medallist.
Archer has been competing at the Schools Championships since 2008, starting off in the Under-8 category. She landed her first big break in 2014. It was at the insistence of her school teacher, Taneka Caldeira that Archer began to take track seriously and joined the Police Athletics Club to train that same year.
“She would always tell me that I had great potential and just needed training to get there so I went out and decided to put my best foot forward and here I am today,” Archer said of the backings she got from Caldeira, her ‘biggest fan’.
In the end all the training paid off and Archer bagged her first medals at the revered Schools Championship -: two silver medals in the 800m and 1500m, and a bronze in the medley relay. She returned last year determined to win her first gold, and it was a proud moment when she did, landing gold in the Girls’ Under-16 discus, and once again claiming silver in the 800m and 1500m. Archer is ever grateful to her teacher for pushing her to go after training.
One of Archer’s coaches, Mark Scott, who has coached quite a number of Guyana’s leading athletes, is convinced that Archer can go far, especially because of the determination she exudes and willingness to work hard for what she wants.
“She trains very hard in comparison to some of the other athletes. Since she joined the club about two years ago, coming from West Demerara, she has been training hard, working towards her goal, wanting to be the best 800m champion she can be, and she wants to represent this country in the 800m.” Scott said.
Set to write the regional CSEC examinations next year, academic constraints currently limit the amount of time she can dedicate to training, even as she prepares for the IGG and later next month the National Schools Championships once again. Nonetheless, Archer tries to make the best of those days when she can train, while not forgetting the important role that education plays in her life.
“Being just an athlete and no education doesn’t make sense, so I have to make sure I balance the two,” Archer said.
(tgarnett_sports@yahoo.com)