SIXTEEN years ago, Charmaine Archer’s late mother, Annetta, received a Hummingbird gold medal for education at the National Awards function.

Annetta’s pre-school, established in Canaan, Tobago, in 1949, is a household name in the community.

In 2019, Archer’s late sister, Martha, also got a Hummingbird gold medal for loyal and devoted service.

On Saturday, it was Archer’s turn to get her national award. But unlike her mother and sister, she received the Hummingbird silver medal for sport (netball).

“I feel very elated and humbled because when you come from a family of service providers and you have been doing it all your life, you do it because of the love and enjoyment you get from doing what you do best,” she told Newsday.

“It is not a matter of doing something to get back something. You do it because you want to provide a particular service and you want to give back. So when you get recognised, it is an added bonus. It is a very good and humbling feeling.”

Archer said her father, 99, has also given back to the community. He is the oldest scout master in Tobago.

She said a group of scout retirees honoured him last Saturday.

A retired THA sport co-ordinator, education unit, Archer was involved in sport for much of her youth. She played basketball, hockey, netball and was also a force to be reckoned with in track and field.

“I had a high jump record for 15 years. So I was involved in sport from a young age. But my main focus became netball because I moved into that as a career path from 1990.”

As an administrator, Archer described her career as colourful, adventurous and rewarding.

“It was colourful in terms of the achievements with the schools at primary and secondary level. It was very adventurous and rewarding when you can sit back and look at the children who you would have interacted with at the primary level move on to secondary level.”

She said some of them have advanced to the senior level and are now coaches. Archer singled out Kemba Duncan, coach of the national senior team, for special mention.

“She is a player that would have passed through my administrative years of primary and secondary into advanced. She would have moved up through the ranks from juniors to national coach.”

Archer, who retired in April 2021, said she also nurtured the talents of national senior player Anecia Baptiste and others.

She said she has received numerous congratulatory phone calls and messages.

Archer added her award is testament to the fact that one should always give of one’s best, “because you never know who is watching.”