ARCHERY COACH HONOURED AT SPORT LEADERSHIP AWARDS GALA

Canadian Archery coach Joan McDonald (Richmond Hill, ON) was one of a number of Canada’s top coaches that were honoured at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Awards Gala, hosted by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC), this past weekend in Calgary. McDonald was a recipient of the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award. This prestigious award recognizes coaches whose athletes have excelled at World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Special Olympics World Games.

McDonald is the personal coach of Crispin Duenas (Toronto, ON), who won the bronze  medal in the Men’s Recurve Bow category at the 2013 World Archery Championship in Belek Antalya, Turkey (September 29^th – October 6^th). The bronze medal marked the first time in 42 years that Canada had finished on the podium at a World Championship in the Men’s Recurve individual category.

McDonald has been personal coach to Duenas for the past 13 years. She is also the founder and Head Coach of the Bullseye Buccanneers Archery Club in Richmond Hill, Ontario.  McDonald has been instrumental in the development of Duenas as an archer from the ‘Learn to Shoot’ stage of Archery Canada’s Long-Term Archer Development (LTAD) model through to the ‘Shoot to Excel’ stage. “Joan’s confidence in my abilities and her keen attention to the coaching of the technical and psychological aspects of archery, have led to my steady progress and success at the national and international levels”, said Duenas.  “I have no doubt that without Joan’s coaching and guidance, I wouldn’t have been on the podium at Worlds. I’m also sure that under Joan’s continued coaching, I’m on the path to a long and successful career as a high performance archer.”

“I’m thrilled and honoured to have won this prestigious award. Crispin is a tremendous young man and athlete with lots of potential”, said McDonald. “My sincere thanks and appreciation to Petro-Canada and the CAC.”  Archery Canada

Congratulations Joan!

Crispin DUENAS: “I know I’ll never stop archery”

Great article about my friend Crispin Duenas on the World Archery website…

Following a one-year break from competition to focus on his studies, two-time Canadian Olympian Crispin DUENAS is making his return to the international scene this week in Medellin.

DUENAS, who started archery in 2000 at the age of 14, is among the most experienced archers on the world circuit. His best individual results were a second place at the Santo Domingo World Cup in 2009, and a second place at the Pan American Games in 2011, when he lost the final to then world N°1 Brady ELLISON (USA). Competing in his first World Cup event of the year in Medellin, DUENAS told us about his sport career, his studies, and his dreams. Read More…

Canada’s wait continues

Canada’s wait for it’s first Olympic medal will unfortunately be extended four more years. Both Crispin Duenas of Ontario and Marie-Pier Beaudet of Quebec were eliminated in their opening match in London.

Crispin Duenas : http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=402049

Marie-Pier Beaudet : http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=401855

Nonetheless, I am very proud of them. While watching these games, I can empathize with the pressure that they are experiencing. After participating in the World Championship in Las Vegas this past winter, I have a new appreciation of the pressure that is cast-upon athletes at these competitions.

At large competitions like the Olympics and World Championships they try to make archery more viewer friendly for the spectators through the addition of commentators. This can be very nerve racking for the archers as they announce each shot and various competitors’ scores, sometimes right at the very moment of your release. In my team bronze medal match, the commentators were already declaring victory for the other team before we had finished shooting. It is almost impossible to block it out, at this level it is about who can manage their nerves and the pressure since they are all excellent shooters.

I have also read comments of news stories, blogs and twitter asking “Why is archery an Olympic sport?”.  For those people, I challenge you to pull 50 pounds, hold for 7 seconds with enough calm composure to hit an apple 70 meters away, adjusting on the fly for all the elements. Now repeat 72 times, consistently. It takes strength, endurance, and composure, just like any other sport.

All of these archers are amazing athletes and deserve to represent their respective countries at these games. For Canada, eighth and twenty-ninth in the world are awesome!

Congratulations, Team Canada on a job well done.

Crispin Duenas: Greatest Day of My Life

Crispin Duenas knew it was going to be a long day.

A 4 a.m. wake-up call followed by the first session of competition for the Canadian archer, and then the Opening Ceremony.

Turns out it wasn’t just a long one.

“It was,” a grinning Duenas said, “the greatest day of my life.”….

Read More … http://www.ctvolympics.ca/target-sports/news/article/duenas-greatest-day-life.html

World Record

Legally blind South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun breaks world record at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

• London 2012: Blind archer sets Games’ first world records
• Blind Archer Breaks World Record

Canadian Crispin Duenas is eighth after the ranking round and will face Egyptian archer Ahmed El-Nerm in the round of 32 on Monday. Marie-Pier Beaudet is 29th after the ranking round and will face Louise Laursen of Denmark on Wednesday.

GO CANADA GO.

2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies

On Friday, London, England will host the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games. Over the years, there have been some awesome opening ceremonies including the last Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. For me, last year’s ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia was amazing and has a special place in the heart of every Canadian. However, recently I watched the 1992 Barcelona Olympic opening on YouTube, and I think I have found a new favourite, as should every archer.

Check it out the entire 1992 opening ceremonies in HD.

Good luck to all athletes and a special cheer to both Crispin Duenas of Ontario and Marie-Pier Beaudet of Quebec as they compete in archery and attempt to bring home the first Olympic archery medal in Canadian history. All of Canada is pulling for you.

GO CANADA GO.

Crispin Duenas in the Toronto Star

Fellow archer and World Indoor Championship teammate, Crispin Duenas was featured in the Toronto Star as he takes aim at the Olympic Games in London.

Check out the article : London Olympics: Canadian archer Crispin Duenas takes dead aim at return to Games