New archery centre on target for success

County Antrim Archery centre opened on January 2, and owner Robin Brown says there is already a good level of interest in the classes.

He told The Times: “I live in Larne and have been doing archery for 20 years so I feel it’s time I give back some of the stuff I’ve learnt. I’m the Northern Ireland Archery Champion and have been the All-Ireland champion.

“Films like the Hunger Games, the Hobbit and Game of Thrones mean there is a lot of interest in archery at the moment.”

The new centre currently offers indoor target archery and Robin hopes to offer field archery later this year.

He says that one of the benefits of archery is that anyone can take part: “From eight to 80, it doesn’t matter about your shape, fitness, disability or abilities. Archery is for every type of person, including people who are in a wheelchair or disabled.

“It improves hand-eye co-ordination, involves walking to collect the arrows and improves upper body and core strength.”

Bows are matched to participants’ abilities and a certificate is awarded at the end of the course. Juniors can earn their FITA feathers badge while those over 12 can earn their FITA arrows badges. Contact the centre via Facebook, or telephone 07732 325318 or 07427574729.