Ardee’s archers are taking on the world . . . online
ALL anyone is looking for this month is a little normality.
What’s normal for members of Ardee-based Cuchulainn Archers is constant training, competing and travelling. The week before Ireland first went into lockdown, for example, five members of the club enjoyed a trip to Las Vegas to take part in the Indoor World Cup, and they were only back home for a day before heading off to Galway for the National Championships.
However, the week of lockdown saw many disappointed Cuchulainn Archers missing out on the European Championships, which were due to be held in Northern Ireland.
Well, last weekend archers’ fortunes changed after World Archery decided to hold the World Indoor Series online.
Rules had to be introduced to ensure fairness, like accompanying photos of the target face to match the scorecard and two witnesses to confirm you have shot the score correctly and fairly. More than 2,800 international archers took park, with the Cuchulainn club taking up three places for Ireland.
Since no indoor space with 18 metres can be utilised for most athletes, allowance was made for anyone who could safely shoot 18 metres outdoors (or in some cases even, indoors, through the house and out to the garden!).
The series is held over four months and nobody knows if there will be an opportunity to shoot the December round indoors, so a mild winter might be helpful. Athletes will be ranked on the aggregate of their best three scores and at the end of the competition thet will be sent a certificate giving their ranking in the Indoor World Series for their category.
Representing Cuchulainn at the weekend were Eamonn Rogers in the Compound Men, Deirdre Rogers MhicRuaidhri in the Compound Ladies and Ann Marie Murray in the Barebow Ladies.
At the time of going to press scores were still being submitted, but it’s a case of so far so good for the Cuchulainn contingent.
An extra archer, Michelle Brohan, shot alongside Ann Marie though did not compete on this occasion. Being Covid companions, this allowed Ann Marie to have a normalised feel to the format, ‘otherwise you feel you’re just training’, said Ann Marie.
‘I always shoot better in conditions where I can test myself against another archer. You need that edge to keep focusing on every single arrow.
‘I’m very grateful Michelle could be here with me, especially as we always travel and shoot together. Good team support can be vital.’