It's time to introduce you to another of our brilliant new junior ambassadors, letting them tell their story in their own words of who they are, what they love and why they chose to become an Archery GB ambassador. This month, we hear from Carlos Amata.
When I was younger, my dad actually bought me a small plastic bow following my fascination with Robin Hood and archery. I then spent the next few weeks annoying everyone by shooting arrows at walls, so it wasn’t long after that my dad and I then enrolled at an archery club and my passion for archery continued.
At first, I struggled with archery – particularly with aiming accurately. It made me feel equal parts frustrated and motivated to improve, but then I won my first ever archery competition. From the start of the shoot, I was excited and felt that archery was very freeing because I could see all my hard work and efforts pay off – that competition made me think that “yes, archery is my sport” and encouraged me to keep working hard.
Since then, I've worked hard every day to improve my skills and I could see the rewards of my efforts when I started participating in competitions and winning. Every day, I keep myself motivated to practice and improve my form, shooting accuracy and concentration, so that one day I might be able to reach the level and standard of the top-level archers I really admire.
I like being involved in archery because it’s fun travelling to different places for competitions and through these competitions and through training, I’ve made many good friends. I really like the friendly community and the fact that archery can bring people together. We help each other improve and build up a community so that when we go to competitions, we can continue to support and cheer each other on! I’ve noticed that archery has given me a lot more stamina and patience, as well as better co-ordination and concentration compared to before I started. These skills translate and are applied into other areas of my life such as school. I love being able to shoot since there’s something quite freeing and satisfying to see the arrow fly and land exactly where you want it to. I also really like that archery is a sport where you can see improvements on a regular basis because it makes me feel more motivated to keep going.
Carlos, fifth from left
At lot has happened for me in the last few years: I broke three national records, qualified as a Junior Master Bowman, became a 2021 U12 Recurve National Champion and Overall 2021 Recurve Champion at the UK Junior Masters, and I got into AGB National Age Group Academy. However, for me I feel proud in the little moments too like when I see self-recorded improvements because I’m able to see how far I’ve come from when I first started to where I am now.
I wanted to become an Archery GB Ambassador because I feel that archery isn’t as appreciated as it should be. I wanted to share my passions with everyone in order to make the archery community much bigger and more inclusive. I’m really passionate about archery. It’s a sport I really love and I hope to show that to other people through the way I will carry myself as an ambassador. Being on the programme helps me hone my own skills but also demonstrate and show my love for archery!
My key focus would be to help those who are just starting archery by incorporating fun games and exercises to make it more exciting and interesting, since the point in archery is to have fun! And if a friend wanted to try archery, I'd say how fun it is and to give it a try – especially if you like Hawkeye from Marvel or Robin Hood.
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