Brock Paton, the founder of the Osoyoos Traditional Archery School, and his prize student Sarah Martin, are representing Team Canada this week while competing at the World 3D Archery Championships in Terni, Italy. Paton and Martin have both claimed provincial and national titles in the past couple of years and have set the same goal to try and make the top 16 at the world championships, which would give them a shot at trying to win a medal against the best shooters in the world. (Keith Lacey file photo)
They’ve done all the work after endless hours of practice, competed against Canada’s best and proven they belong against the world’s best archers.
All that’s left for Brock Paton and Sarah Martin is to handle the pressure and try and shoot as well as they ever have as they compete this week at the World 3D Archery Championships in Terni, Italy.
Paton is the founder of the Osoyoos Traditional Archery Club and Martin is his prize student.
Paton, 70, has won numerous indoor and outdoor provincial and national championships over the past seven years, while Martin has proven herself to be something of a phenom by becoming a provincial and national women’s champion in less than three years since she joined the Osoyoos club.
This will be the third trip to Europe to compete in the world championships for Paton.
Martin was named to Team Canada last year after winning the national women’s championship.
At the recent Canadian National Outdoor Championships in Carberry, Manitoba, Paton captured the gold medal, while Martin captured the silver medal for women.
Since 2009, Paton has captured five gold medals at the national outdoor championships and two silver medals.
Unlike target shooting, which is the most popular form of archery, 3D competitors use longbows and wooden arrows various distances at “life like animal targets” ranging in size from small animals like rabbits and gophers to much larger targets like elk, deer and bison.
At the world championships this week in Italy, Paton will be competing against roughly 90 other competitors from around the world, while Martin is expected to be challenged by between 50 and 60 female competitors.
The competition began on Saturday.
For Paton and Martin, they headed to Italy with similar goals of reaching the top 16.
“If you reach the top 16, then the slate is wiped clean, you start from scratch and none of your qualifying scores count,” said Paton. “History has proven that the top qualifiers seldom win it all as they get burned out from the pressure of qualifying and can’t keep up the pace.
“The bottom line is that if you make the top 16, then you’ve got a shot at being there at the end and maybe winning a medal.”
There is also a team competition involved, but at least one member has to make the top 16 in the longbow to qualify.
“In other words, either Sarah or I have to make the top 16 for Team Canada to qualify for the team competition,” he said.
Paton and Martin both head to the world championships with a great deal of confidence.
At the recent national championships in Manitoba, Paton said he shot as well as he ever has in competition.
“I just couldn’t miss,” he said smiling. “I’ve had better scores, but I don’t think I’ve ever shot as well under pressure as I did at this year’s nationals.
“I was way out in front from the first round and no one ever really came close to challenging me. If I can shoot in Italy like I did in Manitoba, then I think I will have a really good shot of achieving my goal and making the top 16.”
Over the past two years, Martin has proven herself to be one of Canada’s best female archers by winning provincial and national titles.
It’s ironic, however, that the competition is getting stiffer because Paton has encouraged more women to switch from target shooting to 3D shooting.
“I really didn’t have a lot of competition the first couple of years, but that’s really changed in the last year as several top target shooters have made the switch,” said Martin. “A couple of the ladies said they did switch after Brock kept bugging them and they fell in love with 3D shooting.
“To be honest, I love the competition because it means I have to work even harder.”
The woman who beat her at this year’s nationals, Jessie Mobbs from 100 Mile House in B.C., will be joining Martin at the world championships.
Nine out of the 19 members of Team Canada are from British Columbia, said Paton.
Paton admits the pressure did get to him during his first two trips to the world championships – two years ago in Italy and four years ago in Austria – and he hopes things will change this time around.
“I honestly believe this will be my last trip to the worlds because I’m not getting any younger,” he said. “At this world level, there’s a lot of nerves and pressure and I’m just hoping my many years of experience will allow me to control the nerves and shoot like I know I can when it counts the most.”
Martin is a black belt in karate and hopes her martial arts training will allow her to focus and do her best on the world stage.
“Being named to Team Canada and getting to compete at the worlds was my main goal heading into this year and I’ve accomplished that goal,” she said. “I just hope to shoot my best in Italy and hopefully that will be good enough to get me a spot in the top 16. After that, anything can happen.”
Paton said “it’s simply amazing” that Martin has become a world-class competitor in less than three years and he looks forward to watching her compete almost as much as competing himself.
“She’s an exceptionally hard worker and has accomplished everything she has because of practice and hard work.”
This is Martin’s first trip to Europe and she looks forward to soaking in Italian culture and food before returning home, hopefully with a medal around her neck.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
