Taking aim at Brisbane Olympics

Samford has hosted a special tournament for 32 archers from the You 4 2032 program, which has been launched by the State Government.

You 4 2032 will identify athletes who may represent Australia at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

Archery Queensland is part of the program and South Queensland Archery Society was nominated to recruit and train young archers who wish to be considered.

Sessions have been held at Samford Valley Target Archers, Mount Petrie bowmen and Centenary Archers. Most of these young archers have no experience in the sport.

Training has included preparatory warm-ups, strengthening, mental approach and actual performance on the range.

At the end of this phase 32 archers competed at Samford Valley Target Archers grounds near Samford Village with ranking individual match play and team match play rounds.

Australian Olympic archer Ryan Tyack and Australian Paralympic Archer Taymon Kenton- Smith were on hand to offer words of advice to the contestants.

The young archers and their support people also listened to a motivational talk by Brooke Hanson, a dual medallist at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Between 10 to 15 archers will go on to enrolment in Archery Australia’s High Performance groups as potential Olympians.

Those not selected can join local clubs to continue their development.