Seeking more golds, Cojuangco balances archery and family

Amaya Paz-Cojuangco. INQUIRER/Marc Anthony Reyes

KUALA LUMPUR — Quadruple Southeast Asian Games archery champion Amaya Paz-Cojuangco would like for her son Alfonso to follow her footsteps. But no luck so far.

The double gold winner in the 2005 and 2007 SEA Games bought him a bow and arrow just in case it piques his interest some day.

“But he’s into football. That’s where his friends are,” said the 31-year-old Paz-Cojuangco said of her eight-year-old son who is now a third-grader at La Salle Greenhills.

Motherhood has changed her outlook, but according to her, it hasn’t diminished her passion for archery.

“It’s very, very different compared to when I was single,” Paz-Cojuangco told the Inquirer. “Now I have to compartmentalise. It’s not just 100 percent for training because I have to spend time for my family.”

Paz-Cojuangco said that as much as possible, she doesn’t bring the family to her training and competition.

“It kind of distracts me because I would be thinking of them,” she said. “But I guess it’s working because they serve as my motivation and I have become more well-rounded. It’s no longer just archery for me.”

Paz-Cojuangco will see action in women’s compound, individual, mixed and team events.

She has arrived here Monday along with 16-member Philippine archery team that will start competing Wednesday at Merdeka Square.

“We are one big, solid group,” said Paz-Cojuangco of the archery contingent.