BOYLE – A teenage sharpshooter from Boyle has her sights set squarely on an upcoming trip to South Africa to compete in an international archery championship.
Paige Bechthold, 16, is like many other high schoolers at Boyle School; she likes chemistry class and has a summer job lined up at the Village of Boyle. But she’s also interested in making her school better and ran successfully for student council president.
And she also happens to be incredible with a bow and arrow.
“I’ve been competing since Grade 4, so about eight years. This year especially I’ve gone to about six or seven tournaments. We usually only go to about three as a school but I went to a few extra to try and get my scores up,” said Bechthold in a June 30 interview.
Boyle School has been running an archery program for nine years and Bechthold said she was immediately drawn to the sport.
“It was basically something that I saw and thought, ‘Hey this looks cool.’ The program had started the year before and I just ended up loving it,” said Bechthold, who’ll be entering Grade 12 in the fall. “I love the sportsmanship of it all and the mindfulness that comes with it. It’s an individual sport and you’re really competing against yourself, but you’re able to focus and really just be mindful of what you’re doing.”
Bound for South Africa
Bechthold is currently preparing for the Africa Genesis Archery World Tournament which will be held July 26-30 at Camp Discovery, a 270-hectare nature reserve located 121 kilometres north of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa.
She said she’s aiming to shoot at least 100 arrows a day to practice, alternating between the traditional bullseye targets and 3-D targets, which will also be used at this competition.
Of course, entering a tournament like this isn’t cheap, so Bechthold, who’ll be attending with her mom, has reached out to the community for help as she estimates it will cost roughly $5,000 a person. Six local businesses have stepped up to sponsor her, including Green Leaf Fuel, as well as the Athabasca Fish and Game Association.
She said she’s incredibly appreciative of all the support she’s gotten throughout and says that’s part of why she ran for student president.
“That’s something that I really tried to put into my own life; since I’m getting all this support I want to give it back and that’s one of the main things that I’ve learned from the sport … how to support people and lift each other up,” said Bechthold. “I’m just trying to be as involved as I can in the community.”
The other key component of any athlete’s journey is their coach, and for Bechthold that role is filled by Grade 4 teacher Jahala Chrunyk.
“She’s been just so incredible, the effort that she puts into us and the club is hard to put into words,” she said. “She’s really just given it her all and she’s so involved. There was one tournament I went to in Stettler this year by myself, and she made the trek down and just came to support. She’s just amazing.”
