By Derek Schlennstedt
LOCAL Warburton Archer Sam Breeden will be taking aim at the World Field Archery Championships next Monday.
The 19-year-old has dedicated eight years to the sport and is now debuting in his first-ever World Field Archery Championships.
Held in Wagga Wagga, the championship attracts international competitors from America, New Zealand, Germany, England and many more.
Taking place over four days, competitors are faced with 28 targets per day and four arrows per target. Each target can vary in distance, ranging from 10 to 90 metres.
Sam, who was self-taught for the majority of his archery career, has begun to take a more serious approach to the sport and in preparation for WFAC has spent a year with a coach which he says has helped get rid of bad habits.
“I’ve taken two and half months to change my form to a better one – it’s hard to do but you have to persist at it,” he said.
Spurred on by his recent success in making the 10-man junior state team and the four-man senior state team that represent Victoria, Sam has begun a rigorous and demanding training schedule.
A regular week sees him training at least four days per week and can then include competitions on the weekend.
“Patience, a lot of training and persistence are some of the most important attributes required for archery,” he said after a quick practice session on a Tuesday morning.
Shooting for several hours at every practice session, Sam will go through multiple quivers of arrows and says the key to archery is shot execution – being able to hit the target consistently.
“The biggest key is shot execution, how the arrow leaves the bow – to repeat that form every time and be consistent in hitting the target is very important,” he said.
Although he admits things don’t always go to plan, it’s important to keep a clear head when things go wrong.
“Persisting when things go wrong – if the arrow doesn’t go where you want it to, you have to learn to forget about it, and not get frustrated and hung up on it, because if you do it will only affect your next shot,” he said.
Armed with his new Bowtech compound bow, Sam will join over 500 competitors who will descend on Wagga Wagga from September 26-30 as part of the World Field Archery Championships.
Sam hopes to compete in as many World Championships as possible and one day hopes to win the World Cup in archery.
