January 23-26, 2025 Archery Ontario sent 6 youth archers to Lancaster, PA to compete at the Lancaster Youth & Collegiate Trophy Tournament. 4 of the 6 archers also opted to participate in the Lancaster classic itself.
Overall, the team was a great success and an incredible journey for all of the archers in their archery journey. Those who shot the Classic had the opportunity to shoot next to and compete against some of the best in the world. Trevor shot beside the 2025 Recurve Female Champion Casey Kaufhold, and one of the top Pro Men Compound shooters Dave Cousins. Amelia got to compete against 2nd place Gabi Schloesser in her elimination match. She fought hard against Gabi, being down by only 1 point in the 3rd end, Gabi was able to clean the last end, ultimately knocking Amelia out. Zohy (who was the alternate recurve female for the team) got to face off
against Catalina Gnoriega who finished 3rd in the women's olympic recurve category. Overall, a super cool experience for these youth archers to be shooting with and competing against some of the best in the world.
The entire team shot the youth shoot on Saturday afternoon. As the coach for the team I am incredibly proud of all of them and their performances during both the classic and the youth shoot. Almost all of them shot personal bests (in a tournament this large under this much pressure), and many had tournament bests as well. Each team member was faced with their own difficulties from new equipment, never seeing events this large (over 3,000 people competed over the weekend), as well as long travel days for some. The team performed incredibly and each of them made new memories that will last a lifetime.
I truly believe that this event had nothing but a positive impact on each of these team members. Below are some quotes from the team members, to showcase how important this event was for them:
“I enjoyed the event and it allowed me to see what competitive archery is like and I think that I will want to continue with it.”
“It was truly an amazing experience to shoot in such a grand venue and to meet people from all different states. The Lancaster shoot was a perfect way to try something new and step out of my comfort zone.”
“I would just like to say thank you for running the Team for the Lancaster Classic weekend. We had a great time supporting new friends and team members all weekend! We look forward to following everyone for the rest of the indoor season and excited to see everyone during the outdoor season as well.”
This was Archery Ontario’s first time sending a team to this event, and I truly hope the board will consider continuing this tradition for years to come. While there are events in Canada that we could send small teams to, there is nothing of this capacity in Canada. Lancaster is the second largest indoor shoot in North America (Vegas being the largest). Vegas would really be out of reach for us in Ontario due to travel costs alone. The chance to see such a large event, so many shooters, and the opportunity to shoot with and against professional archers is an incredible growth feature for all archers.
Thank you to Archery Ontario for sending a team this year, and I look forward to further discussions about this team in future years!
Report by Jess Ashton
