The 2006 56th South African National Archery Championships which will run concurrently with the 7th All African Championships will be the first internationally recognized tournament in the world running under the new Olympic and FITA rules.

This will be the biggest internationally recognized archery event held on the African continent.

Some 18 African countries have been invited to participate in the games to be held at the Turfhall Sports Complex in Cape Town from 31 March to 4 April 2006.

Cape Town won the bid to host the continental games after it’s partnership with the City of Cape Town in 2005; when it hosted the South African National championships.

According to Tom Dielen, secretary General of the International Archery Federation, FITA is confident that the African Continental Games will illustrate that the new rules, introduced to make the sport more TV friendly, will boost the Olympic standing of archery.

“To this end, we have appointed two international judges and one continental judge to join the South African judges officiating at the event. Once the final inspection is complete, the decision regarding world ranking and recognition will be announced”, he concluded.

Barbara Manning, secretary of the South African National Archery Association (SANAA) said that while federations have been informed of the new rules, this is the first time that they will be applied in practice.

“With some 18 African countries invited to participate, the eyes of the Olympic committee and the archery community will be on Cape Town for the five day event to gauge the effectiveness of the changes”.

SANAA is the governing body for the port of target archery in South Africa. For more information visit http://www.wpaa.org.za


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