Clare Barnes
05-08-2006, 07:36 AM
This is an article from the August “wish” magazine in The Australian yesterday. It was accompanied by a picture of the four guys at full draw.
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Bowmen of Melville
Archers are the first to admit they are fixated people with an obsession for precision. So it’s not surprising that four of the leading members of the Bowmen of Melville, whose club is situated south of Perth, are a bank manager, an air traffic control tower manager, a structural engineer and a chartered accountant.
Each weekend, they spend hours shooting carbon-fibre arrows from heavy, weight-calibrated, hi-tech bows. Their arrows fly at 329km/h towards a target 90m away, whose center is coloured a symbolic gold, not red.
And don’t they just love it.
“There’s nothing better than shooting a perfect arrow,” say club president John Stacey. “It’s a question of shooting consistently – the same way, every time, exactly, until it ceases to be a conscious thing. The release of the arrow comes as a surprise to you.”
Bank manager Kevin Cottier, 45, is the club’s top-ranking archer and veteran of 32 years, which translates to about 1.6 million arrows at 50,000-odd per year. As an international competitor (his last challenge was in Italy), he’s a good man to have on your side for state or inter-club competitions, such as the hotly contested Gauntlet shoot against rival club, Kalamunda.
“Archers aren’t always used to shooting for other people so it’s interesting to see how the dynamics change in team events when you’re shooting for your mates,” says Cottier, who enjoys the fun and camaraderie. “Everyone helps each other with the mechanical side and with technique.
“You have to be pretty fit to hold a 25kg bow up at arm’s length for three or four hours at a time. Yes, it is a mind game, but it is also quite physical.”
The bows have come a long way since the days of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Modern Compound Bows, which have a sci-fi look about them and come complete with wheel, big magnifying lens and spirit leveler, are favoured by most of today’s archers. By contrast, an Olympic Games-compatible recurve bow is a weapon that offers little technical assistance, says Peter Schraven.
Although they are called the Bowmen of Melville, there have always been women in the 41-year-old club, which has a strong social and family aspect. “And of course, there’s liquid refreshment in the clubrooms after each session,” puts in engineer Ron Terwijn. Adds Stacy: “That’s really why we go”.
For more, visit www.archery.org.au
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bowmen of Melville
Archers are the first to admit they are fixated people with an obsession for precision. So it’s not surprising that four of the leading members of the Bowmen of Melville, whose club is situated south of Perth, are a bank manager, an air traffic control tower manager, a structural engineer and a chartered accountant.
Each weekend, they spend hours shooting carbon-fibre arrows from heavy, weight-calibrated, hi-tech bows. Their arrows fly at 329km/h towards a target 90m away, whose center is coloured a symbolic gold, not red.
And don’t they just love it.
“There’s nothing better than shooting a perfect arrow,” say club president John Stacey. “It’s a question of shooting consistently – the same way, every time, exactly, until it ceases to be a conscious thing. The release of the arrow comes as a surprise to you.”
Bank manager Kevin Cottier, 45, is the club’s top-ranking archer and veteran of 32 years, which translates to about 1.6 million arrows at 50,000-odd per year. As an international competitor (his last challenge was in Italy), he’s a good man to have on your side for state or inter-club competitions, such as the hotly contested Gauntlet shoot against rival club, Kalamunda.
“Archers aren’t always used to shooting for other people so it’s interesting to see how the dynamics change in team events when you’re shooting for your mates,” says Cottier, who enjoys the fun and camaraderie. “Everyone helps each other with the mechanical side and with technique.
“You have to be pretty fit to hold a 25kg bow up at arm’s length for three or four hours at a time. Yes, it is a mind game, but it is also quite physical.”
The bows have come a long way since the days of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Modern Compound Bows, which have a sci-fi look about them and come complete with wheel, big magnifying lens and spirit leveler, are favoured by most of today’s archers. By contrast, an Olympic Games-compatible recurve bow is a weapon that offers little technical assistance, says Peter Schraven.
Although they are called the Bowmen of Melville, there have always been women in the 41-year-old club, which has a strong social and family aspect. “And of course, there’s liquid refreshment in the clubrooms after each session,” puts in engineer Ron Terwijn. Adds Stacy: “That’s really why we go”.
For more, visit www.archery.org.au