Push for archery as potential Olympic medal sport for Philippines marks opening of Quezon City range

MANILA, Philippines -- If you were to ask Philippine Archery Team coach Nino Sinco, Filipinos have a chance to excel in archery even in the highest level of them all – the Olympics.

Sinco was present at the private opening of the new CV Archery range in Circulo Verde, Quezon City, on Saturday morning.

In an interview with reporters, the coach said that with the nature of archery, Filipinos have the opportunity to win medals in the Olympics.

“I don't mean to knock on other sports, but this is a sport where we have better chances of winning at the Olympic level than, let's say, the team sports which require height, all those. This is an accuracy and really a mental game,” he told reporters.

“Well, height and weight is not a factor. You don't have to be seven feet tall to be good in archery,” he added, saying that some of those who have won multiple medals in archery are smaller than him.

“That's the thing. We have a chance. Our women, like in the Asian Championships in 2023, one of our archers in a mixed-team event, we were fourth in Asia out of 24 teams. So, may laban.”

Several Filipino archers have previously competed in the Olympics, while a bulk have won medals in the Southeast Asian Games.

Sinco, though, called for more support and funding from the government.

“We need more support from the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission). And of course, the NSA gives support, but their funding comes also from the government. So limited talaga,” he said.

The coach bared that the national athletes usually buy their own equipment, with the bows usually going for about P150,000 to P200,000.

But with the new CV Archery range, which will open its doors officially on February 9, Sinco is hopeful that more Filipinos will try out the sport.

“I'm really excited about it kasi for the longest time, in Metro Manila especially, wala talagang public range. The only one that existed before closed down. So now, this one is totally open.

All clubs, anyone from any club can come here and shoot,” he said.

“Hopefully, when the younger, the juniors start coming and shooting here, it's a way that coaches, because it's also open to any coach who wants to coach here, they can discover new talent leading to our national youth team… and onward to the national team, you know, SEA Games and all those competitions abroad. And you know, we really have a good chance in archery.,” he added.

In the future, the range is targeted to have a full 70-meter distance, which is the full international length.

The Philippine Archery team will take part in several competitions this year ahead of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games.