End of season review

2019 has been a year of ups and downs - mainly ups though!
This year I made the decision to focus on field archery  - this decision was not  made lightly as it meant that it would put me back 2 years on the target side of things, but on reflection I felt that I took on too much last year.

The early part of the season leading up to and including the All British Championships in Northern Ireland were really good. My scores were high, I was shooting well and I gained the scores necessary for selection to the GB team for the European Championships in Slovenia later in the year.  After the all British I took a short rest as the field season tends to go a little quiet. We had our first field shoot at Wharfe Valley Archers in June which took some of my time, I continued to practice but this year I was determined to have some time off to enjoy my social life which often takes a back seat to archery.

I resumed my shooting seriously in July but just couldn't get my form - this was immensely frustrating. The situation persisted into August and most of September. This became somewhat concerning to me as I was flying out to the European Championships at the end of the month!

I went to Slovenia with the team with low expectations given my preparations. 

The qualification rounds were not particularly great, but there were signs in the marked round that my form was improving. By the end of the qualifying I was in 12th position going into the shoot up elimination rounds.
My form continued to improve during the shoot ups and I managed to knock out the number 9th, 6th and 4th seeds to win my pool and advance to the semi finals. My opponent was the number one seed (and eventual winner) who had been shooting brilliantly all week so he was a worthy winner.
My opponent in the bronze medal match was the 11th seed whom I beat in the marked round during the qualifications so I was confident of putting in a good performance against him. Luckily for me I did and came home with the medal. 
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster year for me but thankfully I came away with my medal which is, for me my best achievement to date in my archery career.

I would like to thank my coach Kath, my parents  and everyone who supports me and has sent me best wishes. it means a lot and without you all this archery malarkey would be a whole lot harder.

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