Promising archer Jaydon Roberts hopes to reap the benefits of his hard work as he takes part in the Pan American Youth and Masters Championships in El Salvador.

The 18-year-old has been busy sharpening his skills on the target range at Southside, St David’s, under the watchful gaze of his father and coach Ross Roberts, who takes great pride and pleasure in passing on his vast knowledge to his son.

“It is a great feeling coaching my son and being a part of his sport journey,” said Roberts, who earned medals representing Bermuda at the Central American and Caribbean Games and Island Games during a distinguished career before shifting his focus to coaching.

There is added incentive for his son to do well at this week’s competition in the Central American country it also serves as the first qualifier for the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay next year.

The teenage Roberts has already had the opportunity to test himself against the world’s elite on the international scene this year after representing Bermuda at The Vegas Shoot in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February and more recently at the Pan American Championships in Medellín, Colombia, last month, which also served as an Olympic qualifier.

“This is the first international junior event for Jaydon this year as the other two in February and April were senior events,” coach Roberts added.

“Our preparation leading up to this event included the Olympic qualifier where Camerin Pickering finished eighth and the team of Camerin Pickering, Jaydon and Bernard Wade finished tenth.”

Roberts was eliminated in the individual competition at last month’s Pan American Championships in Colombia after losing to team-mate Pickering in the qualification round.

Pickering ultimately came up short of securing a spot for Bermuda at this summer’s Olympics in Paris having bowed out of the competition after losing to El Salvador’s Oscar Ticas in the quarter-finals but not before establishing a Bermuda record on the opening day of competition.

The 24-year-old produced a score of 646 from a possible 720 during the individual qualifying round in the men’s recurve, eclipsing his previous national record of 644 at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 4 in Paris last August, when he also achieved the Olympic minimum qualifying score.

The final Olympic qualification tournament will be held in Turkey in June. Remaining quota slots will then be allocated to the host nation and other countries based on team world rankings in June.