Wysteria Blend
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
A Weekend of ArcheryThis weekend was a blast. It started with Friday, November 26. It was the Official Practice and Opening Day for the 2004 FITA National Indoor Archery Tournament. My team (Wings Archery) and I, as well as the La Salle Greenhills team, were there. We had been up since 6:00 in the morning and practiced shooting until 3:00 in the afternoon. We've never spent so much time in the vicinity of Ninoy Aquino stadium, nor did we ever think we'd hang out in a mall such as Harrison Plaza. It was a fun experience.
Saturday, November 27 was the Ranking Round. I did pretty OK, except that I was placed in the same division as those of my age who've been at the sport for years, not to mention the rest of the National Team, so just imagine how much better they did.
On Sunday, November 28, I went head to head with Olympian/Numero Uno in the country, Archer Jasmin Figueroa. This is all I can say. It was a DAMN FINE LOSS! She's an excellent archer with impeccable skill and confidence yet she was humble enough to shake my hand at the end of the quarterfinals and tell me, "Nice game!" after I congratulated her. Of the women in the national team she's the best and the most humble. She deserves every bit of her win.
On the upside, our team won 3 medals - silver and bronze for the junior girls division, and silver for cadet girls division. I have yet to win some sort of medal for our team in the adult girls division. But that's not what matters. What does is that we had fun together at the sport we do best. Win or lose, it's the team I choose!
Here's a picture from the tourney: (5th to the left is Archer Figueroa, 2nd to the right is Archer Carlos. This is not a camera trick!)
The most important thing in the Olympic games is not to win, but to TAKE PART, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the STRUGGLE. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have FOUGHT WELL.- Olympic Games Creed
