Salmon Arm’s Ben Shaule recently returned home from the 2012 3D Archery Nationals in Vernon with a gold medal around his neck and the title of reigning champion.
For Shaule, the road to gold began at age three, when his father got him into the sport.He began competing at a young age, and has been winning in the B.C. championships each year since he was six.
Now 20, Shaule has two national championship first place wins under his belt, the latest of which was earned in the men’s division. Shaule says he made jump from the junior division a way of challenging himself – forcing himself to compete against 300 archers, ages 21 to 50, in the bow hunter open where there are no restrictions on what an archer can have on their bow.
Shaule’s skill does not come without hard work and dedication. He practises in his backyard at least once a day for two weeks before competitions, often alongside his father.
“You just got to shoot. There is lots of repetition and routine, I pretty much need to shoot every day,” he says.
Shaule also gets practice by participating in other competitions throughout B.C. and Alberta. He has taken part in 10 tournaments this year alone.
“I am fortunate in B.C. to have some tough competitors to go up against,” says Shaule. “We have a lot of good shooters here; I think B.C. has some of Canada’s best. The competition is pretty stiff here.”
Shaule believes competition against other archers of such high calibre helps to prepare him for entering the larger competitions.
While he enjoys competing in B.C., Shaule says the nationals has about twice as many people, and the competition is fierce.
“It was tough – you couldn’t afford to slip up at this competition,” Shaule says of the 2012 3D Archery Nationals.
Ultimately, for Shaule, the entire competition came down to an “11” – a small circle the size of a toonie within the kill zone that only gets counted as a tie breaker. There was a four-way tie, Shaule explained, but when the judges added up the 11s, Shaule took first place.
Shaule competed in his first national competition in April at the 2012 3D Indoor Archery Nationals event in Fort St. John, where he took first place in the juniors division.
Part of Shaule’s enjoyment of archery is the opportunity to bond with his father, who attends most of his competitions.
“It has always been something we do together, that and we go hunting in the fall,” says Shaule.
