The George sisters, Aalin and Kirsten got their 2012 outdoor archery season off to an early but very impressive start over the weekend.
They were both called up to the first Archery GB training camp of the year at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire to join the 16 other hopefuls from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The weekend was well structured, at times it was quite intense to see how each individual coped under various different pressure scenarios, but on the whole very productive.
The purpose of the camp was not only to train and select juniors aged 17 to 21 and cadets up to 17 years for this year’s events, but to develop and mentor candidates for the Junior World Cup 2013 in China.
It was no surprise that reigning British champion and current number one Aalin was immediately selected to represent GB in both Croatia in May for the Europa Cup and Turkey in July to compete for the second year running at the European Junior Championships (subject to her GCSE exam timetable).
However, so close is the call for the last remaining place that Kirsten has been recalled to Lilleshall in three weeks’ time for a three-way shoot-off.
The Isle of Man only has two juniors that shoot the compound class of bow so it is impressive that they are both ranked in the top four in Great Britain.
That they are now also both on Great Britain’s Elite International squad is truly remarkable and a testament to the hard work that both Peter Mumford and Joy Gough have put into coaching, advising and nurturing their obvious talent.
Aalin would also like to thank Isle of Man Sport and Tony Drabble at Custom Built Archery for their invaluable continued support.