12 years ago when Lilydale local Mark Southall started archery with his daughter, being recognised by Archery Australia was not something he foresaw.
Awarded Runner-up Volunteer of the Year by Archery Australia for hitting the mark with his service in the establishment of the Wandin Indoor Archery facility, Mark’s collaboration with Archery Victoria, and Sherbrooke Archers to organise and hold the State Indoor Matchplay events at the new indoor centre was also recognised.
Recently voted in as President at the Yering District Archers Club, Mark said, “I was very shocked the other day to find out I got this award. I was probably speechless for the first time in my life.”
“I almost fell over”.
Awarded runner-up volunteer of the year by Archery Australia, Mark has been instrumental in building the new Wandin Indoor facility.
Mark said, “Archery Victoria put out a notice to all clubs to see if one of us could hold an indoor event.”
“We didn’t have an indoor facility so I said ‘Let’s see what I can do’”.
Mark found a spot in Wandin East (the badminton courts) and get some spokespeople from Archery Victoria to see if they could get it going as an indoor archery facility.
After five weeks of immense effort, negotiations, and refits, the badminton courts had been turned into a fully operational indoor range, nicknamed the ‘Big Green Set.’
Mark said, “It has been so successful.”
“The Big Green Set has now been running for three years and our numbers are increasing every year,” he said.
“In the last two years, Archery Victoria has given us the State Indoor Match Play, which is a shoot off between the best archers of the year. It’s a big deal.”
When prompted as to what drew him to archery initially, Mark responded “just a bit of luck.”
“It’s something I had done as a kid and twelve years ago a neighbour got us involved and my daughter wanted to start,” Mark said.
Initially commencing the sport as a hobby, Mark’s daughter recently went to Ireland to represent Australia in the International Archery Championships.
Volunteering at his local club is something Mark does off his own bat.
“It is just what you do. I put a lot of effort into the club because I love it and I do it for the archers and to create a good environment,” Mark said.
“I am completely blown away that I got this award.”
“I just wanted to make things better for the club and better for the archers,” he said.
Mark wishes to thank the Yering Archery Club, Archery Australia, and Archery Victoria along with many others who helped out along the way.
“We have got a fantastic club and all of the members are very proactive about making it a better club,” Mark said.
Already brimming with ideas to carry through as new president of the Yering District Archery Club, Mark can’t wait to start hitting targets and leading as an example.
“I think I’d like to see us getting more new people to come and try archery on the weekends at our club,” Mark said.
“There are also things we need to raise money for to get new target butts and all of that to make the shooting better for the archers there,” he said.
“The club has already made such great progress in these areas. I can’t wait to carry on their good work.”
Currently recovering from a back injury, Mark looks forward to resuming shooting at the range soon.
