Former Cup Match cricketer takes aim with archery

Former Somerset Cup Match star Albert Hunt points his bow carefully down the range, fixes his sights and pings off an arrow towards the target rings.

It misses, but the 86-year-old is unfazed and loads the bow again under the watchful eye of instructor David Semos.

“I enjoy every sport,” says Mr Hunt.

“But I had never given archery a go before I came to WindReach.

“It’s a lot of fun and I think my cricketing skills help.

“Now I look forward to coming down here every week.”

The senior is part of a group of half a dozen residents from Yellow Roses Rest Home in St David’s who make the trip to WindReach in Warwick to take part in an archery programme every Wednesday.

WindReach has run the programme for disabled men and women for several years, but it was only at the beginning of this year that they opened it up to seniors too.

Carleen Griffith, a recreational therapist at the home, said: “They all look forward to coming down here on a Wednesday.

“It builds up their morale and it keeps them active.

“They have a great time.”

The seniors are joined by some familiar faces like Sia Castle and Matthew Greenslade who have been attending the charity’s archery programme since it began four years ago.

There are also participants like Robert Lewis who suffered a major heart attack last year and lost his short-term memory. The 44-year-old had just gained a Masters Degree in Psychology when he was struck down. Now the archery programme is helping him to get back on his feet again.

Ms Castle, 41, who is wheelchair bound, has represented Bermuda in para-archery competitions abroad.

She said: “Archery has given me the chance to do things I never believed I could. It has given me a sense of accomplishment I did not think I could get from sport.”

Mr Greenslade, 30, suffered major head trauma as a result of a motorcycle accident in 2002. He says: “Archery has given me a new lease of life.

“It’s a social thing to do and it keeps me out of trouble.

“If I was not here I would be keeping myself exiled from society. I enjoy the companionship and the social side of the programme.”

Troy Farnsworth, the charity’s adaptive sports coordinator told the Bermuda Sun: “We have tried to open the archery programme up to all sections of the community like the seniors and it has proven a great success so far.

“People with any kind of disability can give it a go whether it’s teenagers with spinal injuries or seniors with mental impairments.

“It’s open to the young and old.

This story first appeared in the Bermuda Sun on Friday, June 22.