If you put in the time and effort, no matter what adversity you face, dreams do come true.
That’s what local archer Warren Collins found out when he walked away from the Alberta Winter Games in Medicine Hat with a gold medal in archery.
The 13-year old Collins, who was the only Cochrane-based archer at the Games, went into his first-ever major tournament and blew away the competition, going undefeated, and running away with the 12-14-year old Male Cub Compound category.
“I was pretty excited,” Collins said. “I was a bit nervous going in, but I didn’t let anything get to me. The opening ceremony was absolutely amazing. I got a little choked up. It was like being at the Olympics with the band and all the teams coming out in their colours.”
The young man, who originally wanted to take up archery so he could bow hunt with his father and uncles, has come a long way in a short time, having only taken up the sport in the last year, and to top things off, he’s had to overcome more adversity than most people, since he was born with fetal alcohol syndrome.
“The whole journey started with me wanting to hunt with my family,” he said. “After, I started shooting for few months, and then I won a bow at a ping pong shoot. That’s when I started shooting seriously.”
One of the things that attracted him to archery was the mental aspect of the sport, and the fact he could challenge himself to the maximum.
“It was definitely the mental game that I liked,” he said. “It got me more focused than any other sport had. I got serious after I got my concussion playing football for the Cochrane Lions.
“I’ve played lacrosse, football, volleyball, basketball. I’ve done lots of sports, but archery is more about me versus myself than anything. I’m able to be more in control than I was with anything else.”
Collins started to practice at the Cochrane Archery Club and in Calgary. He estimates that he “shot over 300 arrows per day,” and participated in small events before going to the trials for the Winter Games in December.
“I had been to a few just for fun tournaments, but nothing big like the Winter Games, he said. “It was the first big event and my first medal, it was great.”
Whatever happens, the future is looking bright and Collins knows exactly what he plans to do with it.
“For upcoming tournaments, I’m going to be shooting in the Mother of All Shoots in Red Deer,” he said. “After that is provincials, which I am looking forward to.
“My first goal was to get to the Alberta Winter Games, and now that’s goal one completed.
“With the journey I’m on right now, I’m going to try and qualify for the Canada Games. If I make that, then my dream is to get sponsorship from PSE Archery or Elite Archery. Next year, I’m planning on taking a trip down to the Las Vegas and see all the top shooters there.”
