To maximise their potential in four years’ time, Ramos is looking to secure the next generation from the ground up, which he admits would need hard work between now and then.
“We need more archers, so we want to create 32 schools, one school per state in order to have more development centres,” stated Ramos, with the first of the ‘schools’ opened in Tlaxcala after it had hosted the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in October. “Secondly, we are focused on developing a training programme for coaches along with international coaches and we are getting close to other countries that did this in the past and now they can help us to develop this.”
“Then we need competitions because if we are getting more archers and they are training, they want to compete. It doesn’t matter about the level. If you are a beginner or if you are an expert, you want to compete, you want to try that.”
More centres, more coaches, more competitions equal more archers.
It is a vision aiming to widen the pool of talent Mexico already has, the idea being an increased number of athletes to pick from will lead to an increased quality team.
These aren’t just words though, World Archery Mexico are enacting their pledges.
This year, the inaugural Copa Presidente will take place, with a prize pot of 150,000 Mexican pesos up for grabs, and a reinvigorated national championships which will see under-23 all the way down to under-eight tournaments in addition to the seniors, unlike the prior format where it was just one open competition.
It is also worth mentioning that the nationals held in Saltillo will be broadcast on national television once again after its first showing last year.
