Early in 2018, Archery Canada drafted a new strategic direction for its Paralympic program comprised of a short-term plan to reach the podium at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, and a longer-term objective focused on building out its athlete base through identification and development of a broader group of athletes.

“As part of our immediate program for 2018, we have selected three major events starting with a World Ranking Event in the Czech Republic, followed by the Pan American Championships in Columbia, and an international tournament in September in the USA” suggested Alan Brahmst, High Performance Advisor, who added “we need to optimize our performance potential toward Tokyo and are directing some of our attention toward the mixed team competition and the development of technical leadership for the program.”       

Veterans Kevin Evans and Karen Van Nest, who have competed in multiple Paralympic Games for Canada, were selected to shoot at the Nove Mesto World Ranking Event in Czech Republic from July 1st – 7th. Duncan Crawford has been named as the project’s head coach. Prior to departing for the Czech Republic, the team completed a 2-day camp in Winchester, Ontario at South Nation Archery’s facilities.

The competition will begin on July 2nd with the qualification round, and the team will return to Canada on July 8th, before setting its eyes on the Pan American Championships in Medellin Columbia from August 14-19th.