16 July 2009 - Marja WOORTMAN (NAM): “I’m doing this for my own kid”

Marja WOORTMAN (NAM): “I’m doing this for my own kid” Ogden (USA) – 14 July 2009   Marja WOORTMAN from Namibia was among the coaches who attended the training camp for youngsters of the Commonwealth at the USA Olympic Center in Chula Vista, California (USA). The camp was directed by FITA Development and Education Director Pascal COLMAIRE. Mrs WOORTMAN tries very hard to develop archery in her country. She is the coach in charge of the Namibian team in Ogden and shares her experience.   What was your motivation to attend the training camp as a coach? One motivation was that I had two boys (my son Gunther and his friend Raimund ROHRMULLER) flying a long distance from Namibia to California and I didn’t want them to fly alone. The second motivation is that I want to be more and more involved in coaching and always learn more. We are a very small club and haven’t got any coaches. The archers learn by themselves, one tells the other what is good and what can be improved. For this reason, the camp helped us a lot. As the boys are shooting in competition, it is necessary to give them support in a good way.   Please tell us more about your club in Namibia. Our club opened two or three years ago. There is one big club where we live, but this club did not want to take part in the FITA competitions and the only way for the athletes to improve is to gain experience. For that purpose, it is indispensable to shoot in competitions abroad. That’s the reason why our club was founded, but we need somebody to coach our archers, otherwise we have no one to learn from. My son Gunther competed in Antalya (Turkey) at the World Youth Championships last year and for Raimund it’s the first major international competition. The boys had previously only performed in the surrounding countries, in Africa.   Could you share with us your experience at the training camp in Chula Vista? We had classes together in a group. The classes concerned many areas: the bow itself, if it is set up alright, the technical skills… The emphasis was put on the mental side as well as the technical and the physical side. The coaches showed us exercises that should help the archers to be physically prepared properly.   Since the camp ended, one boy is doing fine and the other has not had the time to apply what he’s learned because he was taught so many things all at once.   Where does your exceptional dedication come from? I’m doing this for my own kid. In order to help them progress we need more background. There is potential if we can obtain more information and train our athletes properly. As a coach I’m trying to find more information about archery. If courses are available we need to try to attend them. It’s important that we keep our club active in order to improve.     What are the goals for Namibia in Ogden? The athletes from Namibian actually shot good scores during the matches! My son’s goal was to be better than in Antalya. My personal objective as a coach is to gain more knowledge. I don’t shoot but I will have to start in order to be a better coach!   Thank you and we wish the best to Namibian archery!   Vanahé ANTILLE FITA Communication