As one of the top archers in Canada, Andrew Fagan has been to several locations around the country for events in his career.
When the Baltimore, Ont. product was asked about his experience in Prince Albert for the 2019 Canadian National Archery Championships, he was quick to praise the job that everyone did in putting the event on over the last week and a half.
“Everyone knew what had to be done and the Timberland Bowbenders (who served as the host committee) really made things easy for us archers,” said Fagan, who won a gold medal in the field event and captured a bronze medal in the target competition.
“All of the facilities were about a 10 minute drive from the hotels and we were close by to restaurants and anything else that we needed to go to while we were in Prince Albert.”
The praise for the job that the organizers did was something that event co-chairs Stacey Moran and John Cannon heard throughout the week, especially from those that came out of town.
“A lot of them told us this was one of the best events that they had ever been to,” Moran said. “Our club has been to many national and world events over the years, so we had a good idea of what to expect and what we had to do in order to have things run well.
“Everyone’s been great to work with, especially the City of Prince Albert, the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and the Prince Albert Wildlife Federations, as we were able to use their facilities for the events.”
The chance to compete at home was something that Bowbenders member Tristan Moran won’t soon forget, as the 21-year-old was able to win a pair of silver medals.
You always want to do well at home, but I just treated the week like any other nationals, except for the fact that we had to set things up for each event,” Moran joked.
“We’ve known for quite some time that we’d be the hosts, so this was a week that I was really looking forward to. I’ve been lucky enough to go these events for about 12 years now and it’s always great to see the top shooters each year. To have them come to Prince Albert was pretty awesome.”
The Bowbenders are planning to host other events in the future, but that will come after taking some time to reflect on what they’ve been able to do over the last weekend and a half.
“I’m sure we’ll look at having another nationals down the road or a Canada Cup event, but we’re going to relax and do nothing for a little bit,” Stacey Moran joked.
“It’s been nice to stay at home and not travel for nationals, but it’s been a long week and a half with a lot of work that’s gone on behind the scenes.”
