Archers of Caledon host prestigious Canada Cup East tourney

Organization recently expanded programming and improved accessibility with OTF grant

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some of the country's top archers were in Caledon last weekend for a major tournament. 

On June 22, The Archers of Caledon played host to the prestigious Canada Cup East tournament on its grounds in Terra Cotta. 

Ward 3 Councillor Doug Maskell attended the tournament to provide greetings on behalf of the Town of Caledon. He explained he has a personal connection to the sport, as his daughter competed in archery all through high school and he coached archery when he worked at Humberview Secondary School.

Maskell welcomed all the archers in attendance to Caledon and wished them luck for the tournament. Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones also attended the event to bring her best wishes and recognize The Archers of Caledon for improvements made to their facility with Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grant money.

Lisa Bertoncini, a world-champion archer, says she learned everything she knows about archery from The Archers of Caledon. Bertoncini won gold at the 1984 World Field Archery Championships and 1985 World Games, and was invited to the June 22 tournament as a guest of honour.

“I started coming here in the late ‘70s… we made friends and we stuck together, it was a real community,” she said. “The people that took care of and ran this club did such a good job… it's great to see that this club is still a vital part of the community and still growing and teaching and bringing people into the sport.”

Bertoncini said she wanted to give kudos to the people who run The Archers of Caledon club because it's a big job that's undertaken by volunteers.

“This is what they do as a passion,” said Bertoncini.

Mark D'Cunha of The Archers of Caledon explained the Canada Cup East tournament is in its third year and last weekend's tournament was the first Canada Cup East to be held in Ontario.

“We have the biggest outdoor facility so we stepped up,” said D'Cunha.

He said The Archers of Caledon are in a growth phase and are seeing lots of interest in archery right now. D'Cunha said membership is expanding and the active archery community is the largest it's been in many years, even compared to pre-pandemic numbers.

“We're seeing lots of beginners join the club. There's a social aspect to it too, and we're very family oriented, so you see lots of families shooting together,” he said. “We have a very active competitive community in recurve, compound and field.”

The Archers of Caledon has received two grants totalling $115,300 from the OTF in recent years.

In November 2022, The Archers of Caledon were awarded $79,000 to make their indoor archery range accessible through accessible parking spaces, an entrance ramp, and accessible automated doors. The washrooms at the indoor facility were also renovated and retrofitted.

In June 2023, The Archers of Caledon received $36,300 to expand their beginner and youth programs and create an advanced U18 program to fast-track archers to the level where they can participate in tournaments.

Anyone interested in learning more about The Archers of Caledon can visit their website, archersofcaledon.org.

Archery Canada president Aaron Bull said The Archers of Caledon are leaders in archer and coach development.

“We look forward to working with the club and Archery Ontario to train and certify more coaches up to the Competition Development level to support the expansion of competitive archery in Ontario,” said Bull. “We commend their leadership in removing barriers and expanding accessibility for para-archers.”