18 Aug 2023
Scottish Archery recently caught up with Curtis Hirst. After many years of giving loads of his spare time to Scottish Archery he is stepping down from the TO's Group where he has been a key member over the past few years.
Curtis isn't disappearing from the sport though and will still be heavily involved at GB and international level.
SA - How did you get started in tournament organising?
CH - I started with helping my mum at our local county shoots by doing results. I slowly helped more and more but my TO debut was at the European Commonwealth Championships 2022 at Kilmarnock, where I was the Event/Show Director. It was a great experience and one I shall treasure. I then began to take more reasonability at shoots not only at an area or Scottish level but also on a British scale.
SA - Tell us about your favourite event and why?
CH -  That’s a difficult question, I have so many events that I love doing every year. On a Scottish level, I enjoy helping mum with the Scottish Indoor Weekend due to its complexity with 5 events in one weekend but also the Scottish Tour Finals where I get to be the Show Director and ensure that the event runs smoothly and to schedule. However, my all-time favourite event that I love has to be the Youth Festival. I go every year as part of the results crew. It is a week-long event combining simultaneous head to heads with alternating finals on the last two days where I get to be a mixture of show director, graphics operator and results.
SA - Why should more people become tournament organisers?
CH - I feel that more people should become tournament organisers as it is a way to give back to the sport which at a local level does not require a great deal of work. Being a Tournament Organiser means you can still be involved with an event but not from a shooting aspect. It is ideal if you do not want to shoot at every event or if you are no longer shooting.
SA - What is next for you?
CH - Next for me is progressing onto helping at more high-level events and continue my work with Archery GB. I also will be continuing my broadcast work with QTV and World Archery for the World Cups and other international events. I will also be developing my judging as I fly out to Sallanches in October to sit my Youth International Judge paper.
Great work Curtis, thank you for everything you have contributed and best of luck with all your future endeavours.