00:00These young archers were deep in concentration during the 2nd National
00:04Secondary Schools Championships in Charleville. President of the Trinidad
00:07and Tobago Archery Federation, Hazmat Ali, sees this as a stepping stone
00:10moving forward. This event is one of our premier event for our developing archers
00:16to expose them to what tournaments are and of course to ensure that our schools
00:22are participating in the sport and growing the sport at the national base.
00:27Archery is not as popular as cricket and football, far from it. As such, one
00:32would want to know if the sport is actually making any progress in
00:35Trinidad and Tobago. As far as the president is concerned, there are no
00:39complaints. The sport of archery is growing in Trinidad and Tobago. This can
00:45be seen with the number of clubs that we have throughout the country. We currently
00:49have 10 clubs positioned at various locations throughout the country. One in
00:54Tobago and the other nine from North Trinidad all the way down to South
00:58Trinidad. Each of the clubs have different developmental pathways but all
01:02of them are in our national schools and of course growing the sport at the
01:07grassroot level with our youths, helping them to develop not only academically
01:12but holistically with the sport of archery. Having said that, Ali is hoping
01:17corporate TNT can come on board to support the sport. Archery does not have
01:21a home of its own in Trinidad and Tobago but Ali wants to see that change
01:25in time to come. We are hoping within this four-year term of the Federation to
01:30lobby our government to try and get a home, centralized home for the sport
01:34where we can help with the development of our archers, not just at the national
01:39level but also help them develop to participate in regional and
01:43international tournaments. The objective is to keep getting more and more persons
01:47exposed to the sport. Ali and his team continue to do their part by
01:51communicating with others in the region to improve the standard of archery. By
01:55hosting events such as these, as well as developmental clinics, participating in
02:00events hosted by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, we are using these
02:04opportunities to expose the sport of archery throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
02:08We have also partnered with some of our regional counterparts, new national
02:12federations like in Guyana, St. Vincent, Jamaica, to grow the sport regionally
02:18with the hope of elevating the English-speaking Caribbean, including
02:23Trinidad and Tobago, to the regional platform within the Latin American region and
02:27world archery Americas. There are more tournaments to follow with the National
02:32Outdoor Championships taking place in July. In October, this country will host
02:37the Caribbean Development Championships with archers from other countries
02:41expected.
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