21 Aug 2026
By Ainsley Ward, Scotland Senior Team Manager
The Outdoor Home Nations Cup is fast becoming my favourite event of the year. Primarily because it really stretches the archers outside of their comfort zone and is by far the friendliest competition by far. And particularly this year, as we look to start our pathway programme anew with one eye on Ahmedabad, fresh funding and a few other exciting things to come, there was a buzz about the tournament that I hadn’t felt before.
This year it was our turn to host, after two years in England and before we hand over to Northern Ireland for next year following their very welcome return to the tournament this year. With our great events team able to support, we were able to find and deliver an iconic location – which you’ll see from the pictures – and continue our positive relationship with the University of Stirling.
Better than the field was the approach of our archers. Potentially instilled with more than a little Braveheart spirit in the shadow of the Wallace monument, we flipped last year’s narrow margin losses into wins, supporting and coaching each other massively and took the overall Cup competition down to the very last match. An amazing performance from every single blue shirt.
For those of you new to the Home Nations, we compete across 3 bowtypes (no longbow, yet…) with three archers per gender. Everyone shoots a 720 qualifier on the Saturday followed by team (3 archers per gender) and mixed (2 archers per nation), all of which generate championship points for the overall cup. Last year while our matchplay was excellent, our overall qualification results were not consistent across the board, meaning that we made life harder for ourselves. In this year’s cup, things were definitely different, with a number of caps old and new delivering on their potential meaning that our teams were all seeded well going into the matches and placing us 2nd at this point. Particular shouts to Cameron Radigan (2nd), our Compound Open team of James, Nathan and late substitute Hamish (3rd, 4th, 5th!) and barebow duo William and new cap Maia for some great scores.
Saturday afternoon saw our well-seeded teams going into the matchplay semi’s – which across the board were phenomenal. Scotland won 7 of the 9 matches to set up gold medal opportunities for Sunday, and where we did not win, the matches were hard fought, high scoring and down to the finest margins. In contrast to 2025, where Scotland did not feature in the Gold matches at all, this was already an amazing result, but reflective of the work put in by every archer between this year and last – and certainly our increased focus on team work during squad days. Perhaps best reflection of this is our Compound Female team of Robyn, Olivia and Kitty, who took on a strong Northern Ireland team and kept their composure as the wind gusted in to record a fantastic win.
Sunday started quietly – with Bronze matches first, we didn’t have much action. Our Recurve Mixed Team, Cameron and Rebecca were up against Patrick Huston and Eliza Tully representing Northern Ireland. A dramatic match ensued, with the first three sets all drawn and NI squeaking a single point victory in the fourth end – a hugely tense affair that was probably harder on the spectators than the archers! In the compound mixed match, Robyn and James’ excellent form continued and having gotten their noses ahead in the first set, they never looked back, winning comfortably by a 13 point margin against an experienced Welsh duo. We then had a couple of hour’s wait until the first Gold medal matches – a refreshing experience compared to the last few competitions.
With every gold delivering 4 championship points, and silver delivering 3, we were in prime position for the cup due to the split of our matches against both England and Wales. Barebow duo Maia and William started the gold rush with an emphatic 6-0 mixed team win against experienced Welsh duo Vicky Semple and Simon Schoenbuchner, helping us to close the gap on England by 2 points. Each match that followed was tight and well fought, with Golds coming our way in both Compound team matches and Recurve Open. This meant that as we went into the last match of the day, Recurve Female team, the Cup was tied between England and Scotland. Rebecca, Linda and Gillian took first blood, with a 47-46 set, but with the wind again returning in the second set, the needle swung towards England. Our team continued to fight every end, but had to settle for Silver and the Cup heading once again to England. My overall feeling wasn’t the disappointment I was expecting, it was massive pride in the fact that we were there at the end, fighting for the cup and bringing it to the other Nations at the highest possible level. A big congratulations to England, and huge thanks to all the archers that made the trip to Stirling and made the tournament a great event for all.
Beyond the archery field, this was also a huge win for Scottish Archery. We put on a national level event in a new location and drew very positive feedback from archers that have experienced the best tournaments in the world. Our fantastic volunteers overcame a few obstacles (thanks particularly to Richard, Andrew and Phyllis!) and a number of board members got to see our event capabilities first hand. Also thanks to Fiona, Malcolm, Curtis and our tournament crew for a well-run event, Erin for really upping our socials game, and Sharon and her team of friendly and efficient judges – proof that it really does take a village to do something like this!
Alongside the tournament, on Sunday in an adjacent field, beyond the elite international pressure, the weekend was a celebration for grassroots sports. As part of the broader #SummerOfSport2026 campaign, with Wee County Archers we ran the inaugural Ready Steady Shoot Festival. This initiative welcomed spectators and families aged 6 and up to try soft archery firsthand, perfectly blending community engagement with top-tier international competition and offering a compelling vision of the sport’s possibilities.
Full results from the Home Nations Cup are on ianseo here and the indoor version is coming up in December on the Friday of National Indoors weekend in Coventry – keep an eye out for the selection criteria soon.
Also, check out photos below:
