Promising archer on target

A young archer from Busselton is following in the footsteps of local sports stars Laura Coles and Scott Sunderland.

Bayden Young came third in the boys intermediate recurve class at Archery Australia’s National Indoors Championships.

The 14-year-old scored 1060 out of a possible 1200 at the Perth tournament last month.

“It was very exciting, ” Bayden said.

“I was quite nervous at the start.

“You just have to ignore all the people watching and focus on what you’re doing.”

Bayden has come a long way since taking up archery just a year ago, after discovering the sport on the internet.

He practises for two hours a day five days a week at home and also trains at Bunbury Archery Club every Sunday.

“It’s something different. It takes a lot of practice and training, ” he said.

“It’s difficult down here because there aren’t a lot of coaches who specialise in archery.”

After watching Busselton skeet shooter Laura Coles and cyclist Scott Sunderland win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Bayden has his sights set on representing Australia.

“Archery is not a big thing in Australia. It was 2000 when we won gold in Sydney, ” he said. “I want to be on the Australian team for the World Games, but for now the next step is to get into the State team in Perth.”

Bayden had a chance to compete at the Youth Outdoor Championships, but could not go because of the cost of travelling to Adelaide.

His mother Michelle La Motte said they were interested in hearing from potential sponsors.

“We’ve spent $4500 on equipment in the last 12 months so it’s very hard, ” she said.

“I’d like to see him go as far as he can.”

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