Welcome to my new Blog. This will be an Archery only blog and i intend to keep it up to date with all the news of my training and preparations in the build up to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
First a little rundown on my Archery career to date. I shot my first arrow in August 2004 and was hooked immediately so 1 week later i bought my first bow off Ebay. It was a nice Hoyt Avalon Plus and once i had limbs that suited me and the correct spine arrows my shooting really took off. I entered my first outdoor Tournament in May 2005 (York Round) and was pleasantly suprised when i won it.
My first ever Gents FITA was The Wiltshire FITA Star in June 2005 where i was placed 3rd with a score of 1122. I shot Tournaments practically every weekend during the Summer and in the July i went to Stoke Mandeville to get my IPC (International Paralympic Comittee) Classification. I am ARST (which stands for "Archer Standing" as opposed to being in a wheelchair).
At the Norfolk Premier Event in August 2005 i was approached by David Hilton the (then) Team manager of the GB Paralympic Squad and told i had made the team and was to shoot at the IPC European Championships in the Czech Republic Aug 2006. He also told me i had won a place on UK Sports "Fast Track" Scheme which is a training scheme to prepare me for the 2008 Paralympics in Beiijing.
I shot my first arrows for GB in July 2006 at the European Grand Prix at Stoke Mandeville (UK) where i won Bronze in the Qualifying rounds and Bronze in the elimination rounds.
The European Champs didn't go to plan as 2 days after shooting a PB 1204 FITA and 14 days before the Tournament, i was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Crohns Disease. The treatment for this is a course of Steroids which totally screwed me up. I came 10th in the qualifying stage with a FITA score of 1176 and was knocked out in the first round of the eliminations so ended up 21st overall...very dissapointing for me.
So as you can see it's been a manic couple of years but i am feeling good and exceptionally confident and excited about the future.......Bring it on!!!
