Sophie Conlon
AT only 10-years-old, Seth Delaney has been recognised as the best young archer in the state and was chosen to represent South Australia on the under 14 state team.
Seth, along with his older brother, Blade, and father, Mathew, only began the sport about six months ago when a bow and arrow in a shop window caught their eyes.
Mr Delaney was immensely proud of Seth for getting recognition so early in his career and for Blade too, with him being recognised at number three in the state.
The brothers agreed it was great to be going so well after only joining the Blue Lake Archers around Christmas last year.
Seth said it was great to be chosen for the state team, but he was a little bit nervous.
“I’m pretty happy cause I have been selected to shoot for the state team,” he said.
“I started off with a plastic bow.”
Mr Delaney said Seth would complete his first shoot for the state team next month.
“It’s Australia wide, so while we’re shooting here there will be people shooting in venues all over Australia and all the scores will get collated,” he said.
“All three of us, the scores will stand alone however Seth’s scores go to the state team.
“All going well, we will be looking to travel further.”
Seth said he enjoyed archery as it could give him a chance to travel around the world for tournaments.
“It’s pretty exciting to be doing it with my brother and my dad,” he said.
The young sportsman said his goal was to be competing in America by the time he was 14.
The family recently returned from a young archers camp in the Barossa and the boys said they were inspired by some of the older kids.
“One older kid was so good, he shoots for the state team and national team,” Seth said.
“There was a girl that shoots recurve, and she shot 70 meters, that’s what they shoot in the Olympics,” Blade said.
Mr Delany said the weekend was an opportunity for them to have new experiences.
“These guys were by far the youngest by four or five years,” he said.
“They both shot personal bests, they both shot an indoor round they’ve never shot before, and a qualifying round that has gone towards their rankings.”
Upon returning to Mount Gambier Blade was given the opportunity to shoot with the adults at the Blue Lake Archers weekly meetup and Mr Delaney said his score sat strong against the experienced archers.
Mr Delany said he was “super stoked” to be taking the journey with his sons and would support them in the journey.
He encouraged anyone who was interested to check out the club and have a go at the sport.