Western Visayas archer has national team aspirations

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Katniss Everdeen, Hawk Eye, Robin Hood. What do they have in common? They are all archer-hero characters.

One young girl from Antique is reminiscent of them. She is also an archer, and for her family, she is a hero for making them proud.

Johanna Leany Aldip is a 15-year-old incoming Grade 10 student at Antique National School who represents Western Visayas at the 2016 Palarong Pambansa. She picked up archery when she was in Grade 7 but only made it to Palaro a year after. This is her second year at Palaro.

Her parents, Martino and Rona Aldip, were very supportive of her chosen sport but it was really her brother, Jule Anthony, who discovered her potential in archery. 

Runs among siblings

Johanna’s two elder brothers are likewise into archery. Her brother Jule was first trained by their eldest brother in the sport. Back then, she did not show any interest in archery and was more into lawn tennis while in elementary.

She was in 7th grade when Jule tried her out in archery and it turned out that Johanna had talent for the sport.

At first, Johanna joined lower meets until she made her own mark at the regional meet, where she bagged several gold medals in 30, 40, 50 and 60-meter categories as well as in the Olympic round and mixed team categories. Her brother served as her trainer in all her stints in archery.

The youngest of 4 siblings, Johanna dreams of making it to the Philippine Archery Team some day. All of this she has accomplished while not owning archery equipment of her own as she makes use of the bow and arrows at her school.

She is working toward finding people who can sponsor her own archery set. For now, she takes aim at the ultimate bullseye — a Palarong Pambansa gold medal. – Rappler.com

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RECAPS AND MEDAL TALLIES: 

• NCR wins 12th straight overall Palarong Pambansa crown
• 8 records fall at Palaro 2016
• NCR cops secondary boys football title in heated Palaro final
• NCR trounces Calabarzon for back-to-back secondary girls volleyball title
• Calabarzon defeats Central Luzon to win Palaro secondary basketball title
• Janel Maraguinot, sis of Ateneo’s Jhoana, is Palaro Best Setter
• Negros Island earns bronze in secondary girls volleyball
• Central Visayas sweeps NCR to retain Palaro badminton doubles title
• Mimaropa bags gold in Palaro elementary boys double takraw

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