Our very own Robin Hood

Evany van Wyk
Oletu Kafula, Aliché Januarie

Manuel De Rebeira, 16-year-old learner at NHS is well on his way of becoming a professional archer. He took the first step by being part of the Swakopmund Arching Club. Manuel has only been doing this sport for three months. This did not stop him to take part in three competitions on the 4th and 22nd of June in Tsumeb.

“I always watched arching videos on YouTube and that’s when I realized I wanted to do this. However, I was told that Swakopmund has no such sport facilities. My coach, also a close family friend, saw my love and desperation to play this sport. He decided to start his own arching club. I was one of the first people he invited, as he said he saw a lot of potential in me.”

“My first competition was at the Swakopmund independent Shoot and I obtained a gold medal. My second competition was at the Windhoek Club shoot, where I obtained a silver medal. The third competition was very recently. In this international competition I was a participant for the 50m shoot and my inborn talent allowed me to qualify for the FITA - one of the highest arching levels. Here I shot 90m, 70m, 50m and 30m which is a total of 144 arrows. It was my first time shooting FITA and I obtained gold. It was difficult as I had to compete against older age groups due to a lack of players. When it came to the elimination round I obtained silver.”

When asked why he takes his new sport so seriously he said he’s aim is to be a recipient of an American Junior Arching Men scholarship. He then wants to pursue his dream of becoming either a mechanical engineer or simply study mechanics in the US.

“Archery is a fast-growing sport in Namibia. It is a fun sport especially for family activities. My younger brother also wants to play but he’s unfortunately still too weak to pull the bow.”

As a school we are proud to have such great talents as well as dreams.