28 Apr 2026
Thanks to the support from our pathway sponsor, BB7, we kicked off the 2026 Outdoor season with a Squad Day hosted by Balbardie Archers. This session is the first of three planned for 2026 and focused on tuning for outdoors alongside team competition.
The session, led by National Coach, Bill MacKay, included 25 archers and 5 coaches, from those hunting their first cap to those with many years of international experience. For once the weather in Bathgate played ball and we had a great sunny and dry session to test out Scotland’s finest.
In the morning a number of archers tweaked their setup to meet the challenge of outdoor distances, including bedding in new arrows and sharpening outdoor technique. After a brief lunch break, the archers shot a quick 18-arrow qualification and were then divided into teams to practice ‘the dance’ in a team’s round-robin. While learning some serious lessons and getting to know the newcomers, our archers lapped up the spring sunshine in this fantastic session.
We’d like to extend our thanks to Balbardie Archers for their hospitality and also to BB7, our pathway sponsor for this season who enabled us to remove the barriers for competing archers and deliver this session without direct cost.
Also, Scottish Archery would like to thanks to those who arranged the day including National Team Manager Ainsley Ward, National Team Coach Bill Mackay and his coaching team made up of Iain Wilson, Sandie Graham, Victoria Barby, Andy Findlay, Simon Garforth and Paralympian Nathan MacQueen.