 Sharp-shooter Ben Humphrys, whose dreams of glory could hinge on him finding a sponsor |
Olympic hopeful targets sponsor
Archer earns a place in national trials after record-equalling performance
OLYMPIC hopeful Ben Humphrys is on the verge of fulfilling his dream of representing his country after being invited to take part in a series of testing trials by the Great Britain Archery team.
The William Ellis schoolboy will be joined by some of the best young bowmen from across the country when he attempts to secure a place in the elite squad in November at the school of excellence at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall, Shropshire.
Having taken the archery world by storm, there’s little doubt that the Highgate youngster, who has just celebrated his 13th birthday, has what it takes to make it to the very top of the sport.
But there is still one major factor that stands in his way as his family struggles to cope with the spiralling costs of the sport.
Having reached such a high level Ben is in desperate need to upgrade his equipment if he is to push forward and fulfil his outstanding potential.
But with a new compound bow and arrows set to cost in the region of £2,500, Ben desperately needs to find sponsors to help him in his quest for glory.
Having already won countless trophies and recognition within the sport, it’s hard to believe that Ben only took up archery four years ago after becoming mesmerised with the epic film trilogy Lord of the Rings.
Pleading with his dad Dave to let him try archery, the pair discovered Camden and Islington club Hampstead Bowmen, a recreational society based at the Royal Free Hospital in Pond Street, where they both train every Saturday.
Ben continued to display his pinpoint accuracy in his previous outing when he twice came within a single point of setting a new British record.
Tackling horrendous weather conditions, Ben managed to use his compound bow to maximum effect when he scored an incredible 636 points out of a possible 648, hitting the centre of the mark with 66 of his 72 arrows.
Despite just missing out on setting a new British record, Ben could still have carved his name in the history books as the first ever archer to equal a national best score twice in one day.
Ben also recently clinched a bronze medal at the Grand National Archery Society’s Junior Outdoor Championships.
Competing in his first-ever outdoor competition, Ben overcame a niggling arm injury to hit the gold centre 123 times out of a possible 144 to notch up a score of 1,254 points out of a possible 1,296.
Not only was Ben presented with an elusive Purple Rose Award for scoring over 1,250 points, but he was also awarded a six gold end badge, which an archer receives when all six of their arrows consecutively score inside the gold centre.
An excited Ben revealed to the New Journal: “Hopefully I will continue to improve and maybe even have a shot at being part of the British team at the 2012 Olympics.”
