The South West region is present at the 20th edition of National Culture Week (SNC) Bobo 2023 in the archery competition with 14 archers including 4 ladies.
Recognized as a specialty of the South West region, archery is one of the traditional sports competing at National Culture Week (NCW).
At this 20th edition of the biennial of Burkinabè culture, the South-West region is present with 14 archers including 10 from the province of Poni and 4 from Ioba.
Among the representatives of the regions, 4 will compete in the youth pool and 10 in the adult pool. Cultural identity of the region, archery originates from the time of the ancestors.
For the president of the Association for the promotion of archery in Poni (APTARC-P), Jean Philippe Hien, the Southwest and shooting have been since their ancestors.
“The man lived by hunting and gathering. The southwest being a wooded area, our ancestors fought for their safety and ensured their food. For this they opted for the bow. Since that time, the bow has entered our customs. And it was passed down from generation to generation,” he explained.
Before explaining: “Among the Lobi, a boy who is born three days later is given a bow. At Dagara funerals, when a body is exposed it is with a bow and a quiver. It is an act of bravery”.
Past the era of defense and hunting, archery has entered the popular celebrations. During his festivities, talents emerge.
For the president of APTARC-P, it is during this period that the association recruits. “Our association aims to promote archery.
It brings together the talented archers of the province from an early age. For this SNC 2023, we presented about thirty archers for the selection. We have training sessions in the dry season and more precisely on weekends.
The distance between the youth and lady pools is 15 meters. Regarding the adult men's pool, it's 30 meters. On the target, we have concentric circles ranging from 1 to 10. If you wait for 1 you have 1 point. You reach 10, you have 10 points. This is how our archers train, he suggested.
Of the 14 archers in the region, we have 4 archers including Salimata Kambou. As a reminder, the Southwest region is the reigning champion in the archery competition. She will defend her title on May 4 at the Wobi stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso.
Source: Burkina Information Agency