Blind Louth archer warms up for upcoming world championships

Rodgers was joined at the Worshipful Company of Fletchers’ Day for Archers with a Disability, by Louth and District Archery Club team-mate and fellow visually impaired archer Pete Shaw.

The archers travelled to the tournament - hosted by the Royal Toxophilite Society – by Louth club chairman and coach Rick Smith.

The competition format was an albion round of three-dozen arrows at 80 yards, three-dozen arrows at 60 yards, and a further three-dozen at 50 yards.

To accommodate VI archers it was modified to a Burntwood Albion by changing the size of target face to represent the three distance changes – nine-dozen arrows at 30 metres at target faces of 60cm, 80cm and 122cm.

The main purpose of the event was for the archers to meet with the sponsoring company and officials from The Royal Toxophilite Society and discuss how the sport had helped to improve their quality of life.

For Stuart it was an ideal opportunity to practice and hone his drills and skills in a competition environment, in readiness for the World Para-Archery Championships from June 2 to 4 at s’Hertogenbosch, in Holland.

For Peter it was another chance to compete alongside his friend and for training by using his own performance as a guide to competition atmosphere and timings for his future county and regional championships this summer.

Rick said: “We were extremely well catered for by The Royal Toxophilite Society, which made the day feel more like an exclusive Garden Party instead of an archery tournament.

“The food was excellent and the archers wanted for nothing on a superb day of shooting together.”