9 Dec 2025
SENIORS – By Ainsley Ward
We’ll start with the headlines, some amazing individual performances, consistent strong effort across the board, and second place overall due to some very narrow margins. Next step is some thanks – not only to the archers that gave their all for Scotland, but to the fantastic support they received in the hall and online, and to Archery GB (AGB) for organising such a great Home Nations competition.
This year, AGB helped us to go beyond a simple tally of qualifying scores and carved out Friday evening for a full Team event. Along with the new lighting, some first-time caps (Kristin, Craig and Sarah) and some athletes returning to the team (Stuart, Rebecca, Michal and Frank), things were set for a shakeup. Across the board, our qualifying scores were a good step up from 2024 – many of the archers carrying forward their good form from recent events into the Home Nations, particularly Erin Ann, William and Sarah.
Scores from the qualifiers were totalled up to create team placings for the Head-to-Heads, with Scotland starting no lower than third in any matchup, and both compound women and barebow open starting in first place. Additionally, our reserves all competed hard, with Frank placing first in his category, and Craig (8th), Debbie (4th), Freya (16th) and Olivia (25th) making the cut in theirs at the National Indoor Weekend.
With all Home Nations head-to-head semi-finals running in parallel, it was a busy field and some exceptionally tight competition. Unlike previous events, the Home Nations had attracted a reasonable crowd beyond the usual family and friends, including those watching online. While both compound teams and the recurve open team prevailed, our barebow open team were taken to a shoot-off by a plucky Wales team, losing out and heading to the bronze match. Scotland entered the medal matches in a great position, shooting strongly and ready to be contenders.
In the Barebow Women’s Bronze match, Scotland initially lost the first end but dug deep and came back to take the medal. Recurve Women’s team, lacking experience of shooting together, fought hard and despite taking a 6-0 loss, ran the Northern Ireland team close in every end. Most thrilling of the bronze matches was again the Barebow Open against England, which culminated in another shoot-off. Joshua Macmillan started perfectly with a decisive 10, followed by Steven Brison’s 6. England were matching our team shot-for-shot. The hall fell to a hush as William Anderson drew his bow and added a 10 to take the match and leave England out of the medals.
In the gold medal matches, our Recurve Open team were pitted against an experienced England team of Ryan Holden, Paul Tittensor, and Richard White, who proved just too strong for Erik, Stuart, and Joshua. In a tight match where they averaged 55 per end, Scotland walked away with Silver and pride intact. The compound matches were similarly nip and tuck, with our experienced Women’s trio of Sarah, Kirsty and Robyn proving worthy adversaries for England. Again, another match not settled until the last arrow, with Scotland missing gold by two points.
The open team of Hamish, James and Kyle also ran England close, taking the fight to the last arrow but ultimately ending with Silver. Across the board, Team Scotland gave their all and left everything on the range. We ended the day with three silvers, two bronze and a fourth place, a tally that left us second overall and only a few small margin items away from taking the cup. It would be hard for me to be prouder of every single team member. My sincerest thanks to them all.
JUNIORS – By Keith Radigan
A huge shoutout to all the Juniors who competed at the 2025 Archery GB National Indoor Championships yesterday.
Some great performances, check out the medallists below:
GOLD - Max Gordon (Recurve Open U21) - Cupar Bowmen
BRONZE - Mykhailo Pavlov (Recurve Open U21) - Links Archers
BRONZE - Olivia Kendal (Compound Women U21) - ASKA
BRONZE - Cairn Boyd (Compound Open U16) - Largs Archery Club
GOLD – William Anderson (Barebow Open U21) - Dundee University Archery Club
SILVER – Katherine Lamont (Barebow Women U21) - Abertay Archery Club
GOLD – Kaitlyn Mason (Barebow Open U16) - Abbey Bowmen
SILVER – Thor Burns (Barebow Open U12) - St Cuthbert Archery Club
Also, to round off an incredible weekend, Scotland took two Home Nations Cup medals with Barebow Team taking Silver and Bronze for the Recurve Team!
‘‘The weekend was on a completely different level! I’ve never been so proud of the team. They battled through a range of emotions while shooting, but they settled in and performed to a very high standard.
They did Scotland proud, and what was especially pleasing was seeing the team making sure their teammates, and the other archers around them, were having just as much fun as they were. I can’t express how honoured I am to have managed this team, and we’ve created so many lasting memories. Well done, everyone!’’
Big thank you to the Team Managers Ainsley Ward (Seniors), Keith Radigan (Juniors), National Coach Bill Mackay & additional coaches, to the archers and to the parents/guardians who made the trip down.
Full results available below:
· AGB National Indoor Championships - Home | Ianseo
· AGB National Junior Indoor Championships - Home | Ianseo
· The Back-to-Back 2025 - Home | Ianseo
