Clive Thabo Dube
Sports Reporter
TEENAGE sensation has continued in his excellent trajectory in archery, a game he began playing at a tender age.
Evidently by his accolades accumulated in his journey, Bryce Hill who started playing archery under Rob Jackson in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) has solidified his presence in the sport by mastering the technique of bow and arrow. To further his achievements, the young archery, recently took part at the South African National Archery Championships which he has won twice in a row (2021 and 2022).
Archery is a sport played using a bow to shoot arrows and the individuals participating in this art are typically called an archer, bowman, or toxophilite.
Archery was first used for hunting and warfare before it became a sport. Notable figures to use archery is the ‘infamous’ folklore character Robin Hood.
Countries with the Origins of Archery include Egypt, China, Japan, England and Middle East. However with the introduction of gunpowder in the warfare tactical plans, the bow and arrow lost its mantle in battle.
The art of bows and arrows then shifted its focus to be a sporting discipline. The rules and style remained the same, use the bow to shoot the arrow to hit the target. The only change was the form of a target (animals and humans).
The first major tournament of the discipline was in England in 1583.
To prepare for the SA National Archery Championships, the 16-year-old champion and his coach who happens to be his father, Shane Hill on February traveled to the World Archery Excellence Centre, Switzerland for preparations.
“To prepare for the SA Nationals, we trained at the World Archery Excellency Centre for 1 month training with the top coaches and the best technology.” Said Shane Hill.
The tournament took place at Mark’s Park Sport Club, (cricket field) from 11- 12 March. The opening day fielded the seeding round and elimination matches. The semi finals took place the following day.
During his course of training at Switzerland, Bryce Hill won silver at the Hundayi Indoor competition.
However, the 16-year-old failed to take his momentum to the just ended SA Nationals as he fell short in the neighboring country and clinched silver wear this time around.
“The tournament provided a confidence boost and having been in a shoot off for South African regional championships, I felt calm and collected going into the match. Unfortunately I lost each round by one point. However with all the changes to form that we made in Switzerland this competition was about preparing for the Junior world championships in June this year. Overall I enjoyed every minute of the competition and look forward to going back next year.” Said Bryce Hill.
At the qualification round, Bryce got a score of 581 which ranked him second in his category. He then played the gold medal match with a chance to finish at the top, he lost and came second.
Ben Oosthuizen from the Western Cape Province, South Africa walked away with the gold.
In an interview with Zim GBC News, Shane Hill, the proud father who has been on the corner of his son as a coach, told this publication that he wants to see his son achieve all his goals. Hence he was prompted to venture into coaching after realizing the low level of coaching standards in the country.
He said the levels where not challenging enough to improve the 16-year-old’s skills.
“He wanted to be challenged more after seeing what Chelsey Hunter was shooting with the Olympic style recurve bow. He moved from shooting 15m to 40m. At this point I recognised that we have very little coaching skills in Zimbabwe for him to progress to a higher level. So I left for Egypt in 2018 to get my World Archery level 1 certification. Upon returning, I took a team to the Egypt Nationals where we did very well.
“A year later, l went to World Archery Excellence Center and did my level 2 coaching. Covid-19 then hit as I wanted to do my level 3.” He said.
Chelsey Hunter is the Country’s decorated female archer and Bryce Hill who has been doing the Olympic style recurve for the past six years, won the Namibia Nationals in 2019. In the same year, he went on to win the Zimbabwe Nationals and on the Egypt Nationals he came in fourth-place.
Having won medals locally and regionally, the Hill’s are now on the hunt for gold at the Olympics.
“Our major goal is to qualify for the Olympics which I believe he has the talent for it. But without some kind of support from the country it may be difficult.”
The team has since applied for sponsorship at Win and Win. The major archery sponsor to further the career of the young archery sensation.