Nearly 70 archers from across Western Canada made the trip to Prince Albert to compete at Canada Cup West over the weekend in Prince Albert.
Canada Cup West is an annual three-day event that sees athletes compete in all age levels from Cadets to Masters (50+)
Stacey Moran, the Vice-President of the Timberland Bowbenders Archery Club says there were competitors from across Canada in attendance.
“This is our fourth time hosting it in the last eight years or so. We have archers from Ontario right through to the Northwest Territories, B.C, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and 69 archers (in total).”
Friday saw practices and equipment inspections for all athletes. Saturday morning saw qualifying for the recurve, compound and barebow individual events with mixed team competitions for recurve and compound in the afternoon.
The event took place at the Timberland Bowbenders Archery Range on the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation just north of the city.
Moran says getting the opportunity to host the Canada Cup West event is a huge honor for the club.
“That means a lot. Archery Canada has faith in us because this is it’s a national event. So, it’s nice that they awarded it to us. Winnipeg held it last year. I think it’s going back to Winnipeg next year.”
For some of the archers competing, it was their first time in Prince Albert.
Chris Waterman traveled from just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba to compete in the Compound Men’s match play, where he lost to fellow Manitoban Rob Cox in the third round by a score a score of 138-124.
Waterman says he enjoys traveling to compete in different archery events.
“It’s something that I been enjoying for the last three or four years. I like traveling to different areas, seeing different people and meeting new people. Any time I’ve ever been anywhere, the archery community is so nice. Everyone’s very helpful if anybody needs it. I like it.”
Waterman was one of several athletes competing with a physical disability as he competes in a wheelchair. Throughout his five years competing in archery, he has met other athletes with physical disabilities, and he says he enjoys interacting with them to learn what drives them in the sport of archery.
“Most generally it’s pretty accessible. There are some challenges being in a wheelchair. The terrain is a big one. I’ve participated with the guys in wheelchairs. It’s pretty neat to see. And then there’s at other international events, there’s so many different abilities. I don’t call them disabilities. It’s very neat to meet all these people and how they’re driven to be in this sport.”
In the compound men’s event, Tristan Spicer-Moran of the Timberland Bowbenders lost by a single point 147-146 to eventual winner Austin Taylor. Charles Jones, also of Timberland fell in his opening round matchup against Ontario’s Kyle Tremblay.
