CALGARY, AB – Archery Canada’s Junior National Coach, Dr. Soha Mahmoud, traveled to the province of Alberta over the recent September long weekend to participate in a recurve archery camp that was organized by Archery Alberta as part of its preparations for the upcoming 2023 Canada Winter Games.

Dawn Groszko, the Junior Director and Canada Winter Games Coordinator of Archery Alberta, summarized the camp as a huge success. “all participants came away with an abundance of information. The passion and love that Dr. Soha Mahmoud has for archery is out of this world and infectious and seen as she shared her knowledge and experience with everyone.” Throughout the camp, Dr. Mahmoud took some time with each athlete, coach and parent, carefully explaining, demonstrating and answering a wide range of questions. She took time to personally connect with each participant and thank them for attending the camp and putting in a great effort. All athletes, as well as their coaches and parents, were able to leave the camp with a wider breadth of knowledge, including form and tuning. Hard work was mixed with fun; a few shooting challenges to earn prizes made it even more exciting. 

“It was great to get some parent training in,” added Ms. Groszko. “As some of these athletes don’t always have easy access to a coach, so having eyes on the ground where they train is a bonus.”

The camp started on Friday, September 2 @ 6 p.m. and ended on Sunday, September 4 @ 1:30 p.m. Ms. Groszko reported that it felt too short, with a ton of information being delivered. She also reported that muscles were sore after that level of training, but that everyone had a great time. 

Brookelynn Robinson, an athlete from Alberta, really enjoyed the camp and gained valuable knowledge. She commented that she had a lot of fun and is really excited to implement everything she learned into her daily routine.

It was incredibly beneficial to coaches, as Bill Smith was pleased to have confirmation on his coaching techniques, but also to learn some new ideas and information. Cindy Dewling, a parent of an athlete, repeated Dawn’s sentiments about parent involvement in the camp. She felt that being able to understand what her daughter is trying to accomplish with her form will be helpful in the future.  

Helen Colbourne, who volunteered at the camp and is a parent within the organization, enjoyed hearing all the athletes having fun. “While Kim and I were prepping meals, it was nice to hear the laughter coming from the field and feel the positive energy at the camp.”

Dawn extends a thank you to Archery Alberta for sponsoring and organizing the event, as well as Canada Archery Online for donating gift cards.  She always wanted to thank all of the volunteers: field crew, meal crew, and anyone else that pitched in. The camp would not have happened without the support.