LAC LA BICHE - Athletes and spectators at this week’s 2024 World Field Archery Championships in Lac La Biche will see the targeted efforts of an army of archery helpers.
In preparation for the 2024 World Field Archery Championships in Lac La Biche from Sept. 16-22, volunteers have been busy not only installing targets, but also maintaining the courses where 325 of the world’s best archers will be competing.
According to Lakeland Archers president Rene Schaub, this has meant setting up over 100 targets along the outdoor trails at the Lakeland Archers outdoor range. The targets are in place on the qualifying and elimination courses either on or close to the grounds of the local archery range. More targets will be set up at the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club for the championship finals of the week-long event.
“On the qualifying courses, which are 24 targets each, we have three courses of those,” Schaub told Lakeland This Week. “Once they finish shooting two qualifying courses, then they have to shoot the elimination courses … the elimination courses are six targets and then they move on as they get eliminated.”
Setting up targets, Schaub says, does come with challenges, including installing them in hilly areas and in thick forest.
Furthermore, international rules set out by World Archery also come into play when preparing for such a sporting event. These rules, Schaub said, mean that courses cannot be longer than one kilometre.
“They want a short of course as possible,” he said, explaining that on a course with 24 targets in a one-kilometer circuit, none of the targets can be facing each other. Each target at a different distance from the shooting area.
“They vary from 10 meters to 60 meters, which makes it very, very challenging,” he said.
Watch the world
Organizers are hoping that plenty of community residents will turn out to watch the 2024 World Field Archery Championships, and Schaub said there will be space for people to stand and even sit during the week-long international archery competitions at the shooting range and at the finals.
During the qualifying rounds, he said, spectator space will be limited, because, as he says, getting groups of people out into the bush is difficult. Nonetheless, people will have the option to stay by the stands close to the archery club where they will get to see some of the action.
After the qualifying rounds have finished the elimination portion of the tournament has begun, Schaub continued, there will be more room for fans to stand and enjoy the archery competitions. Bleachers capable of accommodating upwards of 1,000 fans have also been set up on the local golf course for the final rounds.
Lac La Biche on TV
People who show up to watch these 325 archers from 29 countries compete may in turn find themselves on international television.
According to Schaub, this highly publicised event will be televised, with the broadcasts sent around the globe.
A camera crew from Archery Canada, he stated, will be in Lac La Biche filming during the week-long event. The Lakeland Archers have also brought aboard a photographer for the tournament.
“We’re going to have a photographer that comes from Nova Scotia as well,” he said.
The archery week kicks off with a parade of nations on the afternoon of September 16. The first week of competition will wrap up with a community rodeo at the Lac La Biche Agricultural Grounds and several other community events will be hosted through the week, allowing residents and athletes to mingle.
It’s the second time in the last five years that the Lac La Biche-based Lakeland Archers have hosted a world championship. The 2019 World 3D Archery Championships was a great learning experience that Schaub said has helped to set the stage for the latest sporting event.
He expects the success of the first event to carry over.
“This is going to be a great week for the community and the athletes,” he said.
What’s going on?
For a full listing of the week’s events, see the schedule printed in the September 10 edition of the Lakeland This Week newspaper. A link to the schedule is also available in the digital version of this story at www.lakelandtoday.ca and on the Lakeland Archers social media pages.
