Are you a youth archer who would like to compete on the world stage? Read on for our application advice for the Youth Compound National and Development Squads in 2023/24.
The Youth Compound National Squad is for archers who are performing at an international standard and have the potential to continue or reach this level of ability ahead of the 2024 season. For archers who are showing the potential to reach an international standard in two or more years, the Youth Compound Development Squad is for them. Both squads allow young archers to advance their shooting skills, meet like-minded peers, and possibly earn their places on the team to travel the world.
The National squad will select no more than 4 archers in each category (U21M, U21W, U18M, U18W) who display the necessary standard of performance. Squad training days will focus on performance optimisation to help the international archers of the future.
The Development squad will select archers showing future potential. Development squad training days focus on nurturing potential through athlete behaviours and technical coaching.
Archers are asked to send their three best WA50m qualification rounds and best three 50m 15-arrow matches shot at WRS events in 2023. If you have not completed this many of these rounds in 2023 you may put the score of any other WRS Outdoor Metric event from 2023, noting what round was shot.
Applicants will also be asked to state what they want to take away from the squads, and their archery goals. These questions are used to give the selection panel context of what support the athletes need, and to get some insight into the archers' mindset and attitude. The panel may choose to invite athletes to an assessment day on 7 October 2023 at Lilleshall National Sports Centre to clarify this context further.
One application should be made for the Youth Compound Pathway, and the selection panel will determine which squad, if either, the athlete is most suited for. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2023.
Read more about the squad dates, application process and score standards using the resource on the International Team Selection Criteria page on our website.
