Bluff archery champ awarded Protea Colours

BLUFF’s archery champ, Danya Kara Thompson, who has already earned numerous notches on her belt, was recently informed that she had achieved her Protea Colours.

Danya, 14, of Oceanview, will be competing at the 2023 IFAA World Indoor Championships (WIAC) which will take place in Kent, United Kingdom, from February 13 to 18. She said there are over 420 archers from 26 countries who will be participating.

“Each category had a qualifying score, in which you need to shoot or obtain five scores over a certain period in order to qualify for Protea Colours. Once scores are achieved your application goes to South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) for the final approval.

“My category is the junior female freestyle unlimited, and I needed 292/300. I feel very happy and honoured to have achieved my Protea Colours. It means that all my hard work has paid-off,” she said.

The Protea awards ceremony will be held in Gauteng on January 21.

“It is the capping ceremony and I will be receiving my blazer. I am really excited,” she said.

The Grade 9 learner at Durban Girls High School, said her passion for archery started at age five.

“I would watch my parents and remember thinking that is so cool and I wanted to try it. However, when I turned six my parents gave me my first bow and that was how my journey as an archer started. I just fell in love with the sport,” she said.

Danya, who is a member of the Archer Archery Club, said her role-models are South African archers Lizl Kuschke and Jeanine van Kradenburg.

“They have both inspired me by seeing the effort they put into the sport, which has shown that hard work does pay-off. They have had so many obstacles, yet they still defy the odds.
“I am also inspired by the type of women that they are. No matter how much competition there is, they are still willing to assist others,” she said.

Danya said while she does not know what her future holds, she intends to continue with the sport.
Some of her achievements include winning gold in the compound cubs girls category at the World Field Indoor Archery competition held in New Zealand in 2019, gold in U15 compound girls category at the World Archery South African Indoor National Championships in 2022, and bronze at the SA National IFAA Indoor Championships in 2021 and 2022, among other competitions.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had put a huge dent in archery events, however, we were able to shoot remotely, but it was not easy,” she said.
Her parents, Jeanne and Neil Thompson said they were proud of all her achievements.

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