Interview with Abigail Henderson - 2026 Scottish Women & Girls in Sport Week

This year’s Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week is the perfect opportunity to celebrate being active by inspiring and supporting women and girls across Scotland to get involved in sport or physical activity.

Running from 2 – 8 November, this annual campaign is now in its tenth year. This landmark year provides an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the growth of the campaign over the last ten years, and the progress to improve opportunities for women and girls to be active across Scotland. The theme is Celebrating a Decade of the Week.

Today we chat to Abigail Henderson of Wee County Archers in Clackmannanshire who shares her archery journey from starting with soft archery at a young age and progressing to full archery, which includes some great advice   

Abigail won Young Volunteer of the Year at our 2026 Annual Awards Ceremony and is a proactive coach and volunteer at her club.  She is also the youngest qualified coach in Scotland after completing her Archery GB Level 1 Session Coach course at just 15 years old, as part of our Women & Girls Coaching Academy (WGCA) Cohort 1. We are also delighted to have Abigail now part of our Youth Panel too, helping inspire more young people into archery and ensuring young voices are heard!

Thank you Abigail for letting us interview you.

Check out the video below and transcript:

1) How did you discover soft archery?

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I discovered soft archery when my primary school had an after school club and some of my friends were going.

2) What do you remember about your very first session with a soft archery bow?

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Hitting the target and moving from the Y bow to an O bow.

3) What made you keep coming back to soft archery?

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The immediate feedback that every shot tells you something.

4) What makes soft archery such an enjoyable activity?

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The fact that everyone can participate and there's no individuality between everybody.

5) When did you decide to move from soft archery into full archery?

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I decided to move to full archery when I watched a video and seen how far I could get with it.

6) How did the transition into full archery feel?

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The transition felt a bit difficult and challenging but as I knew I could get through it I kept on trying.

7) How important was soft archery in building your confidence?

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Soft archery was important for my step up because I knew I could already do the technique as they were just basically the same.

8) What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting soft archery?

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To keep trying and don't give up when it gets hard and just have fun.

9) How would you encourage others to follow a similar pathway?

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Don't listen to people putting you down because if I did I wouldn't be where I was now.

Inspired by Abigail's message? Find a local club here, near you.