Grace has been shooting since she was 12 years old. The beginners course introduced her to barebow, however, at every practice, a few longbows would be at the far end of the field shooting clout. Grace was drawn to this group and eventually wandered over to have a closer look. One of the archers very kindly loaned her his longbow so she could have a go. It had a 40lb draw weight yet Grace handled it easily and was getting the same distance as the men. She fell in love with longbow from day one and has been passionate about this traditional bow style ever since.
At age 15, Grace began competing regularly. However, it wasn’t until she moved to Deer Park in 2020 that her success, confidence and level of skill received the biggest boost when she began working with Coach Graham Peters. Since then, her career highlights have included:
– Outdoor and Indoor National Longbow Champion for U18 Women in 2021
– Bronze medal for Women’s Longbow at the Senior Indoor National Championships at age 17 in 2021
– Outdoor and Indoor National Longbow Champion for U21 Women in 2022
– Ranked top 10 for Senior Longbow Ladies National Rankings for 2022 at age 18
– Achieved Master Bowman status in her first year as a senior in 2022
– Currently holds 5 national Records and over 30 County Records
Recently, Grace discovered horseback archery and is now taking riding and horseback archery lessons. She has recently acquired a horsebow and divides her practice time between these two bow styles. She is dedicated to target archery, but also enjoys clout, field and roving.
