
10 Dec 2024
By Ainsley Ward
Once more the Scottish contingent headed south by plane, train and automobile, arriving in a stormy Coventry to battle it out with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. With the howling winds from storm Darragh driving rattling rain into the tin roof of the NAEC in Stoneleigh, our 12-strong Scottish team came from a contingent of more than 40 Scottish archers which included four SAA board members for the first time in a number of years.
First up in the Friday evening session were the “Dynamic Duncansons”, Pam and Kevin, both putting in solid scores 565 and 556 respectively, which saw them both making the cut in their compound 50+ categories. Kevin lost out in the quarter finals to fellow Scot, Ru Barlow, who went on to take silver. Recurve Women’s reserve, Victoria Otterson also shot in this session, scoring 339.
In the early Saturday session Carlene Wright put in a 423 for the Recurve Women which she found highly disappointing but was reflective of her recent recovery from meningitis and the challenges that the NAEC throws up for para athletes that we will look at how to negate next year. Recurve Men’s reserve, Cameron Radigan scored a strong 566 and made the cut in the Senior Recurve Men category. Scottish U21 captain, Kristin Ward, also featured in this session, scoring 507, the highest Scottish Recurve Women’s score at the event.
The final Saturday session saw the rest of our team shooting, with our compound team shooting very solidly. Fin Clark and first reserve Kyle Scott put in 573 and 569 respectively, with compound novice and second reserve, Hamish Galpin slotting between them at 571. Both Fin and Hamish both made the cut for Compound, with both falling to silver medallist Christopher White during the knockout stage. New SAA board member and paralympic Gold Medallist, Nathan MacQueen, qualified highest of the Scottish contingent with 575, but with a change in release aid just before the competition could not match his Paris performance, heading out in the eighth’s. Fin also took part in Sunday’s Back-to-Back, finishing an astonishing 5th seeing off a number of senior GB archers along the way. Amazing Fin!
Our Women’s compound was where the action really happened though, with Robyn and team reserve Olivia both making the cut, shooting 555 and 557 respectively. Olivia’s new competition PB and strong score was nearly necessary as part way through achieving her score, Robyn put an arrow through her finger. The moment of drama, caused by her release going off while she was attempting to come down, resulted in some quick treatment by the medic and a valiant Robyn embodying Scottish heart to continue shooting and post a perfect 60 for her next half dozen. Bravo Robyn! This adrenaline-driven performance was enough to net our Compound team Home Nations Bronze, beating Northern Ireland into fourth by just 4 points, and less than Robyn’s finger-induced miss behind the Welsh. A great team effort!
In the Recurve section, the other Geddes archer, Debbie was busy putting in a capable 457 while we patched up her daughter, alongside our Recurve Men’s team of Erik ‘Reliable’ Rowbotham and Josh Phillips, who put in 569 and 562 respectively. Along with Cameron all our Recurve Men made the cut for the category, as did Debbie in Women’s 50+. Erik and Josh would go on to meet each other in the knockouts, with a tight battle ensuing and eventual victory for Josh, although he would go out in the next round.
Our barebow team, Freya, Erin Ann, Josh McMillan and Steven all struggled to bring their best to Stoneleigh, shooting 388, 413, 425 and 450. Although Freya was struggling with a shoulder injury and Erin Ann shooting through a heavy cold, both managed to make the cut and improved their qualification positions to 17th and 9th respectively. Women’s reserve Marion put in a respectable 374, but all were eclipsed by Men’s reserve William Anderson, who had been co-opted from the U21 team and put in 474 to make the cut at Senior level at the first time of asking. William would also go on to take barebow U21 gold during the Junior competition on Sunday and definitely marked himself out as one-to-watch in the coming years. Go Will!
So overall not our best year in the Home Nations Indoor Cup, with Scotland finishing fourth overall, but a lot of positives to take away. We took Bronze in both Compound and Barebow and a number of our archers shot beyond their selection scores. A number of our U21 archers stepped up to senior competition and outshot their senior counterparts, meaning that the future is bright. We continue to display the amazing sportsmanship for which we have come to be known, and left everything we had at the competition. For most this was metaphorical, for Robyn, quite literal. My thanks go out to the team and all of the Scottish contingent for their support and effort. With Nathan on board as our new Director of Performance, and Jonny and I working to build out the next iteration of our elite program, I genuinely feel that this is floor for us and the future will bring great things.