The previous year, archery from Cienfuegos ratified its power status, leading the actions in the School Games with an accumulated score of 65.96 points, thanks largely to the harvest of six titles, three silver and two bronze medals. . The juniors, for their part, maintained third place in the country, as their national championship did not take place.
After the tremendous result, the archers from Cienfuegos face the preparation with renewed vigor, with a registration where several medalists in previous appointments stand out.
“The group is working very hard, above all, they are very aware of the objective, since the point is not to arrive, but to stay”, says the experienced coach Gerardo Quiñones Ferreyra, an entire institution of the discipline in our country.
Professor Quiñones adds that “it is an excellent enrollment and there is a lot of competition among the girls, something that we make the most of, since we use those desires to excel in jousts that we organize internally, and that are giving satisfactory results.”
The competitive action is at the gates, since from April 17 to 22 Sancti Spíritus will host the national youth championship. Then, in the month of May, the first category Elite Tournament will take place, a contest for which María Fernanda Aladro Camejo, the current queen of school archery, has been invited.
“In the youth, if everything goes as it is up to now, we should be in the top four, although the girls have set out to go for the place of honor,” says the teacher.
Odania Camejo, sports glory of the territory, believes that “this is a category that has not competed for years, due to the Covid and then because it was not called in 2022. That undoubtedly makes the forecasts reserved, but we are all in a level playing field and here are several athletes who have occupied podiums at previous levels”.
“As for the Elite Tournament, says Quiñones, María Fernanda will have the opportunity to measure herself once morest the best of archery in Cuba, and that in itself is already a unique experience for her young age. We trust in her potential and she comforts us that they invited her”.
His mother Odania cannot hide her excitement. “It is an immense pride. She has to be aware that there she has no competitive pressure, we will not demand results from her, because her best gift is that she is going to rub shoulders with the best archers in Cuba, and she must take advantage of that tremendous opportunity”.
María Fernanda is not going to “walk”
The girl assumes it as a new challenge. “Being the only school athlete invited to that event is a tremendous responsibility, so I’m not going to go ‘walking’ either, but to be consistent with that invitation. This year I started training with discomfort due to an injury, but that hasn’t stopped me from training every day. In 2022 I knew there were expectations for me, but following the result in the School Games I am now aware that everyone expects more, and that is why the bar must be raised”.
The Inder activist movement is as old as the sports organization itself. And in this place there is an example worth imitating, since Yosbel González is a fundamental piece in the results of the discipline.
“If I say Yosbel González, many will not know who it is, but if I mention ‘Maza’, the entire archery family will say present, since he is known and recognized throughout the country. He is a man completely dedicated to our sport, even with monetary aid when necessary. He participates in the preparations, and several of the titles of the Cienfuegos archers are due to his work. Nothing is impossible for him, and here we really wouldn’t know what to do if we didn’t,” Quiñones says.
Odania adds that “it is my right arm, my constant support. He is in charge of all the armory part, the repairs, the logistics. He remembers that this is a very expensive sport and that for years we faced all kinds of limitations with the implements, the bows, the arrows, the butts. But we have the ‘Maza’, which literally works magic so that the preparation does not stop. And he has a lot of knowledge, so he’s just another coach. I believe that the movement of activists has to be more recognized, because anonymous heroes like him must come to light”.
With enormous humility, Yosbel agreed to talk with us, but not before trying to avoid it at all costs.
“This is my life. I do whatever I have to do for the good of this sport. And I will continue to do so. The only thing I want is that archery in Cienfuegos continue to be successful”.
Undoubtedly, the school category is the current highlight, since three of the archers of the group are the current monarchs of the country.
María Fernanda speaks on behalf of her colleagues. “We are going to retain the crown, without a doubt. And in my personal case, I propose to surpass acting. The previous year there were five gold, three silver and one bronze. Now I’m going for nine gold, and improve my own national records”.
