Shoot for greatness with TU Archers

Alfie Lambert from TUXtra spoke to TU Archers to find out more about their sport and how you can get involved.

For some students at university, finding a sport is essential in helping them settle into their new surroundings. Getting involved in a club or society is a great way to meet new people and enjoy some downtime away from studies.

Finding the right hobby is sometimes difficult, but with plenty of lesser known sports around campus, there is something to appeal to everyone here at Teesside.

One of these sports is archery. It’s been around for hundreds of years, where historically it was used in hunting and combat.

Nowadays, it’s an Olympic sport and ever-growing at Teesside University. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, and TUXtra spoke to team captain Jamie to find out what students can expect from the sport.

He said: ‘Archery is not as physical a sport as others, and I think that’s why so many people are trying it. It’s a sport that gives you the opportunity to either have fun with it, or be super competitive with it.

‘We have competitions all over the year with many different universities and it’s even an Olympic sport, so you can move onto the Olympics from shooting at University which I think is great.’

Club member Shadman had never done archery before attending Teesside University, but now he is hooked.

He said: ‘I had never done archery before back home as there was no archery club. The main reason I got involved in archery is because our prophet in Islam was very good at archery and it’s basically something we call Sunnah.

‘It’s something if we do it’s like a reward you get and besides that the other things that made me interested in archery was movies and TV shows, and super heroes like Green Arrow and Hawkeye.

‘I also didn’t know there was an archery club here – I did MMA, boxing and kickboxing, so when I came over here the plan was to join that club but then I saw archery and I thought I would give it a try.

‘The first session was not that great for me, but the second session I was doing good so I decided to join and try out all the taster sessions. Since then I have really improved.

‘I would like to continue archery in future, and if I move anywhere I would like to join another club and continue it as a sport, rather than just a hobby.’

Club chair Sophie says anyone can get involved, and they are always keen to take on new members.

Sophie said: ‘We’re always happy for students to ask us questions, or come see us and see what archery is all about. We’ve also got a Facebook page where you can message and ask questions and see all our updates.’

You can find out more about all of the clubs and societies on offer at Teesside University Students’ Union on the website, or pop in and speak to the SU Activities team. With everything from netball to knitting, battle re-enactment to boxing, there is something for everyone.

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