NI titles secured by Foyle and Roe Valley archers

There were 104 competitors from all over Ireland who took part in the competition and the North West was well represented.

Archers young and old from Foyle Valley Archery Club made an early start, leaving the club at The Vale Centre before joining their good friends from Roe Valley Archery Club in Limavady.

The two hour drive went quickly in an almost full coach with everyone looking forward to the coming competition.

This was the first big event for most of the children and many of the adults too so all credit goes to the Northern Ireland Field Archery Association for organising an event where everybody was made to feel very welcome.

Cubs, that is children under 13-years-old, were shooting at targets just 40cm in diameter at a range of 10 metres, everyone else shot at the same size targets from 18 metres away.

It wasn’t long before Foyle Valley’s youngsters made their presence felt, quickly running up some very impressive scores.

The adults too performed well with some of them achieving personal bests.

After 60 arrows each the scores were added up and passed to the adjudicators for ranking.

Cubs Sean Temple and Grace Norris became Northern Ireland Champions with Tierna McLoughlin coming a very close runner-up to Grace.

Paige Heath won the ladies under 18 category making it three Champions for Foyle Valley Archery Club with her friend Kayleigh O’Donnell taking second place in her first ever competition.

Although the event was hotly contested Northern Ireland Field Archery Association places more importance on inclusivity than on winning. This was clearly on display in Craigavon as experienced archers freely gave of their time and advice to help and encourage all the newcomers to our great sport.

Anyone who would like to try the sport for themselves should pop along on Friday evenings to either Foyle Valley Archery Club in Greysteel or to Roe Valley Archery Club in Limavady, or contact George Heath on (0778) 388 2537.