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Archers meet at SKW for training camp

15-year-old Xander Reddig has been awarded a universality place at this year’s Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

15-year-old Xander Reddig has been awarded a universality place at this year’s Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

Ten archers from different age groups are meeting at the SKW sports grounds for a week-long training camp. The training camp kicked-off on Monday.
The camp, a brainchild of Rüdiger and Marja Woortman, is taking place under the watchful eye of the internationally-acclaimed coach from the Federation of African Archery, Dr. Josef Preisser, who is based in Sabie, South Africa. This year marks the third consecutive year that Preisser is assisting local coaches in shaping young Namibian archers.

Besides the general preparation of all archers for the upcoming season, Preisser and his colleagues will place a special focus on 15-year-old Xander Reddig. The recurve archer was awarded a universality place at this year’s Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China provided that he achieves a minimum score at any World Archery recognized shoot.  Reddig must achieve this score at either the up-coming South African Open Championships at the end of March or during the qualifying event for the African Continent which will be held in Windhoek in April. The Archery Association of Namibia is positive that Reddig will achieve this goal and has invited him to start his preparation for the Youth Olympic Games. “It’s important to us that he trains hard in order to not just participate in the upcoming qualifications and in China, but to be able to compete with the best. He surely has the talent to do so,” Rüdiger Woortman said.
In April Redding will face his first big test of the year when the Federation of African Archery Youth Championships and Continental Qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games take place in Windhoek.
However, this won’t be the first time the youngster breathes international air. In October last year Reddig formed part of the Namibian team that travelled to Wuxi, China to participate in the Youth World Championships. Although he didn’t manage a place among the top shooters, Reddig gained valuable experience at the prestigious and highly competitive event.

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