Well-known Sault archer Lana Perry has two major archery competition dates on her calendar.
Perry, who owns and operates archery school Arrows in Motion with husband Jacob McEachern at the Algoma Rod and Gun Club, will be heading off to the Canadian Outdoor Archery Championships to be held in Fredericton, New Brunswick from August 2 - 10.
She will then travel to the World Archery 3D Championships in Mokrice, Slovenia that run Sept. 30 - Oct. 6.
Perry will be attending the Canadian Outdoor Archery Championships in New Brunswick as both a competitor and coach.
She’ll be competing in 3D archery and target archery.
Target archery involves shooting arrows at stationary circular targets set up at specific distances while 3D Archery involves shooting arrows at three dimensional, life-sized foam targets, shaped like various animals and typically located at various points throughout an outdoor trail.
As coach, Perry will oversee a team of 17 adult competitors from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba. The team consists of archers, male and female, selected by Archery Canada from trials held last year in BC.
“It will be a fantastic experience,” Perry told SooToday.
“As a coach I’ve got a lot of knowledge and experience I can share with the team, to help other people. It’s a different experience working with adults who are already at a higher level,” said Perry, who coaches mainly children and teens at Arrows in Motion.
Archers at the Nationals in New Brunswick must compete to qualify for Team Canada at the Worlds in Slovenia.
Perry - who will not compete but concentrate on coaching at the Worlds - will arrive in Slovenia Sept. 26 with her team for a few days of practice before the tournament begins.
“It’s so hard to get a team from Canada together because we’re such a gigantic country,” Perry noted.
“Countries from Europe can get together often because European countries are smaller and travelling within Europe is quicker, easier and more efficient. And, some European countries have way bigger budgets than we do.”
Perry, who grew up with archery, has enjoyed success at local, provincial, national and international levels.
As an adult, she joined the Archery Ontario board as the VP of Junior Development, transitioning into coaching and teaching youth while continuing to compete in the adult categories.
"At the nationals I’ve won a good handful of medals, in 3D mostly, and some in target as well. I’ve won the bulk of the 3D championships I’ve shot at the provincial level,” Perry said.
She has competed at three World 3D Archery Championships - in Latina, Italy in 2009, Sardinia in 2013 and Lac La Biche, Alberta in 2019.
Among her favourite memories is that of her first time competing at the 3D Archery World Championships in Latina, Italy in 2009.
Perry and two other Canadian female archers sat in the top five after the first day of competition.
“It was a phenomenal feeling,” she reflected.
“Slovenia is a part of the world I’ve never seen and the Worlds is such a neat event,” Perry said in anticipation of this fall's international competition.
“I love meeting people from different parts of the world. It’s exciting. I love meeting people. I love hearing about their experiences and the Worlds are always really well-run.”
The location will be interesting as well, she added.
“The event is being held at a castle’s grounds. We’ll actually get to shoot in and around a castle in Slovenia. That’ll be really neat.”
However, there are no large amounts of funding for archery competitions and travelling to New Brunswick and Slovenia will be expensive.
Air travel, food and accommodation involved with the Canadian Outdoor Archery Championships in New Brunswick will cost between $5,500 and $6,000, Perry estimated.
Travelling to and from Slovenia will also be costly.
Perry will soon be raising funds to support her tournament expenses by holding archery lessons at the Algoma Rod and Gun Club on Connor Road.
Time slots for 45-minute sessions are available from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 18 and from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, July 22.
The fee is $30 per time slot. No equipment is required.
“I don’t want to just take people’s money so I want to offer something of value to people for their support,” Perry said.
“People will be able to shoot, and shoot at some 3D animals which is what I’m going to competing with when I’m away. We’ll have balloons and make it a fun night of shooting. It’s open to anybody who knows how to shoot or doesn't know how to shoot. There’ll be Arrows in Motion merchandise for sale as well.”
Perry can be contacted through the Lana Perry's Arrows In Motion - Archery Lessons & Coaching social media site or by email .
Support would be appreciated, Perry said.
“It’s going to be a really great experience (in Slovenia). I’ve loved the three World Championships I’ve done before. I’ve always come back a better person for it.”