He has an impressive resume built with many years of hard work honing and perfecting his skills with a bow.
Williams Lake archer Al Campsall, heading into this past weekend’s Canadian 3D Indoor Archery Championship with six outdoor national championships, tucked another title under his cap — the first national indoor championship he’s won.
“I have to admit I was pretty excited about it because I’ve never won an indoor championship before,” Campsall said. “Last year when I went I finished third.”
The event, held at the Pomeroy Centre in Fort St. John, played host to more than 200 archers from around the country. It was the first time a Canadian Indoor Archery Championship had been held in B.C.
“Since the championships are a potential proving ground for archers wanting to make the Canadian Team travelling to the World Championships in 2013, competition was fierce.”
Campsall, who competed in the Master’s 50 compound open division, led the field by seven points after three rounds of shooting Saturday, and continued to win by 12 points on Sunday.
“Following the first round I didn’t realize my score was as high as it was,” Campsall explained.
“It’s out of 220 points, and I scored 211, so I was quasi-happy with that, and I guess that was the highest score around and I didn’t realize it because I didn’t go check the score sheet.”
Campsall said he normally likes to wait until the end of the event to look at where his competitors sit in the standings, preferring to focus more on his own shooting.
“I can’t control their shooting, I can only control mine, so I didn’t realize I was in the lead because I didn’t go check the score sheet,” he said.
“I found out the next morning (Sunday). Someone told me I was ahead by seven … When the dust settled I was ahead by 12 so it was a satisfying moment when I found that out.”
Coming up in Williams Lake for archers in the region is the Cariboo Archers’ annual Outdoor 3D Shoot on May 12-13 — a fun, family event.
“It’s for anybody of any calibre,” Campsall added. “It’s fun, or competitive — you can come one day or both days — it’s really a relaxed family event and we have any kind of archery that even includes crossbows.”
Interested archers can arrive at the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association clubhouse on Bond Lake Road to participate. The action gets underway both days at 8 a.m.
For more information contact Lee Jackman, president of the Cariboo Archers, at ljmagnamoose@yahoo.com.
