The archery competition at the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games promises to be the first taste of a multi-sport event for many of its athletes.
Male and female archers will compete individually and as a team in the compound and recurve shooting categories in a Canadian 900 style outdoor competition at the Estevan Archery Club from July 24 to 27. The four-day round-robin and elimination-round event will feature competitors shooting 30 arrows each, and 90 arrows in total, at targets 25, 35 and 45 metres away.
“Each arrow has a point associated with the target,” said Kim Graham, local sport representative with the Summer Games. “The inner circle (of the target) is a 10 and that’s the ultimate you want to achieve, so basically the high score moves on. A perfect score is 300, so that’s all the arrows in the centre. Each ring has a different value.”
Graham said each of the nine zone teams will have one male and one female in both the compound and recurve divisions. She said there will also be a team event where a recurve and compound archer compete together.
“Compound is just a bow with the cams on the end,” she said, noting cams let off poundage making it easier for a person to draw it back. “Recurve is basically a bare bow with a string and sights.”
Tryouts for Team South East, which roughly includes the area from Highway 1 in the north to the U.S. border in the south and from the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border in the east to Highway 6 in the west, are scheduled for May 28 and 29 at the Estevan Archery Club. At the tryout tournament, participants must shoot both the compound and recurve Canadian 900 rounds of 25, 35 and 45 metre distances to qualify for the four-person team.
Graham said kids from 12 to 18 years old are eligible to make the team as long as they are currently members of the Saskatchewan Archery Association. She said the kids must also contact Team South East archery coach Monai Wanner at 306-634-7056 prior to attending the tryout.
“They’ll have to show up with their A-game,” said Graham, “make sure they’re focused and hope for the best.”
