Archery CVIRAA 2012 | Day 4, Thursday, December 6, 2012

Today, I woke up, well rested, and ready to give my best for the 50 and 60-meter events. I have mixed feeling about these two events which could have been brought likely by my experiences during the Cebu City Olympics last month. The 50 meter event is where I got a dismal score of only 141 and luckily I still got a bronze medal during that City Games. The 60 meter distance is where I was excited because I got 232 points that was worth a gold medal. I know that this tournament is no longer the City Meet and I am now facing the best girl archers from the region that is known to top archery competitions in the country. My mom and dad are always telling me to keep getting experiences and exposure to continuously harness and develop my God-given athletic skills.

I always loved sports and I was into volleyball and football. In my 6th grade last year, I was a member of the CNU-ILS Elementary Girls Volleyball Team that participated in the City Olympics. I wanted to develop that sport so I enrolled last summer at the Ateneo Cebu for the Volleyball and Football clinic. I always wanted to be part of the Varsity team. I even keep a soccer ball in Jeddah so everytime I go and visit my dad during summer breaks, I have something 'sporty' to do while I'm there. There is a park beside my dad's villa in Jeddah and I would go out in the afternoons to play football there... You could just imagine a girl in her full black abaya cover kicking and playing with the soccer ball. Hahaha :-)

When I flew to Jeddah with my Ate Gabrielle last May 2012, things changed. Dad kept on nagging us to try Archery. Thus, a little more than 6 months ago, I first touched a bow and arrow and my sport life has never been the same again.

So when I went to the range this morning, I resolved to do the best I can despite my limitations -

Many of the other archers call me "Ate" thinking I am older than them. It could be because I am bigger than my age. So I would ask them their age and they would tell me that they're 14 or 15. I would quickly tell them that I'm only 12 and would want to add I'm still my mom and dad's baby... :-)

I'm overwhelmed to hear that many of the girls are experienced archers in CVIRAA, Palarong Pambansa and Batang Pinoy. I still don't have that depth of experience that they have.

I stood at the range this morning with the confidence that I am there because I choose to be there. I will not allow my limitations to control my Archery Journey. I had the full support of mom and dad and my siblings and I have the best coaches one could only dream of.

Here are the photos of my 4th day in CVIRAA 2012 -

Aiming for the yellow!

The running tabulation for the 50 m distance

After retrieving our arrows

Results of the 50 m

The result of the 50 m was a big improvement of my previous record at the the Cebu City Olympics. Today I got 192 and I ranked 6. That was 51 points improvement to my previous 141.

The following photos were taken during the 60 m event. You'll be able to see the shadow of the acacia trees and the archers' shadows which show that the sun was at its peak. It was past 12 noon and we were still shooting so the Game Official declared that we would have a quick lunch break after the 3rd set.

Photo shows the scores for the first set of arrows in the 60 meters. I was struggling with my sight and I had to make sure that I was able to compensate for my sight. Coach Joe left for Iloilo City to also coach for the other members at the Cebu Archery Club who are participating in the Batang Pinoy National Games.The next shots were not that good either so mom had to make a call to Coach Jing to ask her advise on what to do and I was advised to just remove my sight. My scores started to improve a bit but the pressure was on.

We had a quick lunch break at the after the 3 sets of arrows and  immediately resumed shooting after lunch.

The photo shows the tabulated scores for 60 m including ranking. I only got 187 points and I ranked 11th in this event. The 60 m event is where I got a gold medal during the Cebu City Olympics last month. That time I was able to get 232 points.

The table officials tabulating the results after the last arrow had been released, retrieved and scored. All the individual scores for each of the 4 events were tabulated and ranked accordingly.

The tabulated scoreboard that showed the final results of the 4 events - 30 m, 40 m, 50 m and 60 m. I got a total of 867 Individual Round Points that placed me in Rank 7.

After the two-day competition, here is the Top 10 Individual ranking for the CVIRAA 2012 Archery for Girls (30, 40, 50, and 60-meter events).  I placed 7th among 28 Archers! That's great! In the top spot is Rey Ann Flores from Cebu City. There were only 2 of us from Cebu City who landed in the Top 10. All the 4 Girl Archers from Mandaue City made it to the next 4 spots. Lapulapu City ranked 6th, Cebu Province took the 8th and 9th spot while Dumaguete City got the 10th highest individual score. Many archers are CVIRAA and Palarong Pambansa veterans. Next year, I can say I have experienced a CVIRAA Games and will then be considered a CVIRAA veteran... :-) 

Here's the performance of the Cebu City Archery Team (Girls) CVIRAA 2012. I'm proud to have maintained my No. 2 Ranking which I garnered during the Cebu City Olympics last month. I also improved my overall score to 867 from the 839 I got during the Cebu City Olympics held last month. All my other 3 team mates are from Gothong National High School. I am the lone archer from Cebu Normal University - Integrated Laboratory School.

A pose with the rest of the Cebu City Archers, Coaches & Chaperones.

We only see each other at the SU Archery Range as they are billeted in Valencia, some 8 to 10 kms away from the city. 

I received this afternoon the schedule for the 40 m Olympic Round that will be held tomorrow morning. For the 1/16 round I am matched with #26 - Libunfacil, GN from Tagbilaran City

Tidbits...

While I was at the Archery Range waiting for additional instructions, Mom quickly ran to the famous Sans Rival to grab some pasalubong for Kuya Kevin, Ate Gabrielle and cousins. She also went to the ticketing office to book our flight back to Cebu City.

 Good night everyone! I will rest early tonight in preparation for tomorrow's Olympic Round and the Team Competition.

Archery CVIRAA 2012 | Day 3, Wednesday, December 5, 2012

I thought Day 3 of CVIRAA 2012 will also be cancelled as Typhoon Signal #2 was still in force in Dumaguete City. I learned yesterday evening that Dep Ed Region 7 Director met with the Schools Division Superintendents and decided to tentatively cancel today's sports activities depending on the outcome of the weather.

It was not a convenient night last night as mom and I were not able to sleep well at the Island's Leisure Boutique Hotel because of the power black out that started yesterday evening. We had to put off our phones to save on the battery so we can use only in case of emergency during the onslaught of Typhoon Pablo (aka Bopha - International Name). Both mom and I were restless and I really pity mom as she was still nursing a slight back pain. From time to time, we would put on one phone after another to monitor the status of the weather in Cebu City and  also to check on Kuya Kevin and Ate Gabrielle. We also had to check Ate Fe in Brookfields. We are very thankful to God that there was no big damage in Dumaguete City and everything is fine back home in Cebu.

Despite our lack of sleep, we woke up early to go to the Silliman University Archery Range to check on any changes in the schedule.

This was how the garden with the red fountain at the hotel greeted us when we got out of our room. The sky was still gloomy but the sun rays gave us hope that it was going to be a fine day.

We got to the Archery Range at past 7:00 and this was how it looked like. The ground was full of debris - branches and leaves from the old acacia trees that lined along the range.

As soon as we learned that the Games will resume in the afternoon, we went to a coffee shop to charge our phones and we started to look around for a hotel that has a power generator. It was quite difficult to find one at this time. There was one we found but I whispered to mom that it doesn't look like a hotel but a resto bar. "Bahala na oi basta naa ray matulugan." :-)

That morning itself we moved in our things to our newfound hotel and immediately hurried back to the Archery Range by 12:00 noon as the competition will start at 1:00 pm. I had no time for lunch because I felt I still had a full stomach. It was probably my excitement to compete that made me feel full.

It was very warm and humid, a usual phenomenon after a storm and even before the games began, I started to perspire all over... My, the other older girls were just okay and here I am, the youngest competitor sweating it out like a horse. :-(

There are 28 girl archers from all over Region 7 that competed and I was assigned at Target Butt Range 4B. All the Cebu City archers were assigned in the B Range (1B, 2B, 3B, 4B).

Other range assignments are: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A - Dumaguete City Archers; 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C - Mandaue City Archers; 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D - Cebu Province Archers; 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B - Bohol Province Archers; 5C, 6C, 7C, 8C - Lapulapy City Archers; 5D, 6D, 7D, 8D - Tagbilaran City Archers.

It was a tough competition in the 30 meter qualifying round and I ranked 6th out of 28 with a total of 276 points. That was a 27 points improvement of the 249 points at the 22nd Cebu City Olympics where I placed 2nd.

For the 40 m qualifying round, I had a bad attack of migraine and I started to feel weak. My shoulders started to falter and my hand was often hit by the bow string. I cried because my shoulder was hurting. Coach Joe by the way is also a nurse and he assisted me when I cried. Coach Jing was there too to guide us on what to do. My ever-supportive mom had to look around for ice cubes to put on my shoulder to appease the pain but ice cubes were nowhere to be found since there was a long brown out the night before till today. Mom went to the Silliman University Medical Center and asked for some ice cubes to be used for an athelete's injury... She got some and that helped me a lot. Then, I started to feel hungry. It's not coincidental but I believe it was God who brought mom's colleague in the judiciary from Dumaguete City, Judge Tan to visit us during the competition... and would you believe he brought snacks for me. :-))

I ranked 12th in the 40 m with only 212 points. This was lower than the 217 points that I got in Cebu City last month.

After the 30 and 40 meters qualifying round, I ranked 9th overall. The cumulative Top 10 after the two events were from:

1. Cebu City
2. Mandaue City
3. Mandaue City
4. Mandaue City
5. Dumaguete City
6. Cebu Province
7. Mandaue City
8. Dumaguete City
9. Cebu City - :-) This is me
10. Cebu Province

Tomorrow will be the qualifying round for the 50 and 60 meters. It can be anybody's game. I hope to maintain my position the least or improve it if I can.

I learned that one has to have the stamina to sustain till the last rounds...to be in a healthy condition all the time. Because of the suspension of the Games in Day 2, the schedules were clamped together and there was really no time anymore for me to rest. It was a continuous shooting and young as I am and a neophyte in tournaments like this, it was a bit difficult for me. Competition is never to be taken for granted. Practice...practice and more practice because correct practice makes perfect! I'm confident that with the support of mom and dad and my siblings plus the champion and Olympian archers as my mentors, I will make it to the top soon. As they say in Saudi Arabia where my dad is, Inshallah (God willing)!

Well, good night everyone... this 12-year old Grade 7 CNU student (or should I say, this baby? ;-) )needs to get a good night's rest tonight! :-)

Archery CVIRAA 2012 | Day 2, Tuesday, December 4, 2012

I woke up early today very excited to start my campaign for the 30 and 40 meters event of the Archery for Girls Recurve Bow. It was Day 2 of the Games but it was actually Day 1 for Girls Archery. I was thankful that although the weather was gloomy with intermittent rains, there were no strong winds. However, I was saddened to hear that the activities for Day 2 of CVIRAA Games had been suspended by Dep Ed Regional Director Dulangon because Signal #3 of Typhoon Pablo (International Code Name Bopha) was raised by PAGASA in Negros Occidental. That makes my chance to catch up with the Batang Pinoy Nationals that will start tomorrow in Iloilo City slimmer than it was a few days earlier. Nevertheless, I believe that it was the best decision that could be made for the safety of around 6,070 athletes who came from  all the elementary and secondary schools in the region. A big blessing on my side is that my mom is with me at this kind of situation

"Safety First!" is "Safety Always!" ~Charles M. Hayes

Here's the full report of the suspension of Day 2 Games

Dulangon suspends CVIRAA games
From http://www.depednegor.org/

 

Regional Director Carmelita T. Dulangon suspended all outdoor and indoor games of the CVIRAA today, December 4, 2012 in response to PAG-ASA’s advisory with Negros Oriental falling under Signal number 3 o

f Typhoon Pablo.

In her meeting with all the schools division superintendents and assistant schools division superintendents of Region VII at 7:00 this morning, Dulangon instructed all division heads to keep everyone in the delegations safe.

The SDS should check that the buildings can withstand strong winds and that there are no trees or plants that might fall on school structures. Flashlights, candles, food and water must be ready. Vehicles must be properly parked and kept in safe places. Adults must keep all children safe. Families must be assured that children and spouses are safe.

The division heads were also instructed to check all playing venues to make sure that no athletes are staying there. The Department of Education is now coordinating with the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

“We need to take care of everybody. We must remember to pray, prepare, and pray more”, Dulangon said.

Games are suspended until further advisories.

*****************************************

Instead of staying at the hotel the whole day, we went to the family estate of the Chans (Coach Jing's Place - Olympian Jennifer Chan) where I spent the day "shooting in the rain."

Here are some of our photos that day...

Here's my photo with Coach Joe and Coach Jing. I always enjoy and treasure moments with these great coaches and Archery champs! 

During break time, I would run and play with the pet dogs. How I suddenly missed Justine, our 16 year old Shitzu when I played with the Chan's family pet dog. It's a mix-bred daschund and a mini pincher.

And here's a pug that I want to have. I asked mom and dad to give me a pug for Christmas and I hope I will have it... Why? Because I know God will answer my heart's desire to have a pug. :))

And yes... this is why I'm so inspired to play Archery... oooohhh my... just look at the medal collections of the Olympian Archer Jennifer Chan. She always inspires me to do my best in my Archery journey.

More photos...

Here's mom enjoying the nice place at the estate despite the impending super typhoon.

She is with the mom of Coach Jing

And here's coach Joe as a piano virtuoso. He's not just 'bows and arrows' but 'ebony and ivory keys' as well.

After all the hitches and glitches of the suspension of the Games, we had an enjoyable day at Coach Jing's place. Thank you coach Jing for accommodating us to your beautiful place.

When we got back at the hotel, there was a city-wide black-out... and we started bracing for the passing of Super Typhoon Pablo.

Archery CVIRAA 2012 | Day 1, Monday, December 3, 2012

I had no game schedule today except for the required practice shooting and equipment inspection for all archers in the morning. In the afternoon, the 30 M and 40 M events for boys were held. While the boys were up against and outshooting each other, I went to have a nap, a photo shoot and went to a hideaway.

Here are some of my photos during Day 1

Photos of the practice shooting held this morning at the Silliman University Archery Range.

 

When I came home for lunch, I had to change into my Cebu Nino uniform so I can have a photo shoot to show my uniform to dad. I also had to take a shot of my toiletries ration I got from the Cebu City LGU. :-) I have to keep the Omega Pain Killer for my dad.

In the afternoon, I had to take advantage of my free time to practice at the private Archery Range of Coach Jing (Olympian Jennifer Chan).

 

 

CVIRAA 2012 Proposed Archery Tournament Schedule

Here's the Proposed Archery Tournament Schedule for CVIRAA 2012. The venue is at the Silliman University Archery Range. If everything goes well, the tournament will be completed by Thursday, December 6.

So far, the first day of competition had fine weather. I pray that Super Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) will not disrupt the Games  so we can finish on time.

My Parents, My No. 1 Fans!

"I have really great, great parents, who are supportive of me" ~Justine Timberlake

To say that my parents are supportive of me is an understatement! They are incredibly supportive of my Archery journey.

My dad is my No.1 fan. Even if he's many many miles away, he would always make sure he gets 'hot' updates of practices and tournaments I join. The last time I competed at the 22nd Cebu City Olympics in November, he spent a fortune calling me or Ate Fe to get updates. Mom was not around during that time that's why he had to make those calls even if I was still at the range. If mom was around, dad would be able to get updates with photos through Viber, What's App or Fring. This time, mom is with me so I'm sure Dad would get fresh updates as they would come. My mom is my other No. 1 fan! She had to sacrifice her work and filed for a leave just to be with me.

Mind you, my dad is soooo 'makulit' and he would even want to go through the juiciest details on how the arrow propelled to hit the target butt, the scores, the wind velocity... Well, it's mom's turn to address dad's 'kakulitan' this time.

Anyway, I'm so thankful of having an incredibly supportive parents and siblings. Here's dad's well-wishes for me as I start my campaign for the 30, 40, 50, and 60-meter distances of the Archery Recurve for Girls tomorrow.

Thank you dad and mom for the support. I'll do my best!





My dad's Facebook well-wishes in my quest for Archery honors in the CVIRAA 2012



Thanks too for the Smart Phone apps that offers free communication to a loved one who is hundred of miles away.