Quicks Team Shooter - Mollie Perrett

How did you get into archery?
I spent a lot of my childhood at the archery range waiting for my parents who were both archers and were often competing or practicing for upcoming events. In 2015 they were both involved in an international competition that took place about 20 minutes away from home. I spent my whole summer doing homework at the field and waiting for them to be finished, helped at the competition, and got to miss school to go and watch. Towards the end of the summer as everything got less busy I decided that I wanted to have a go and join in. Ever since then, archery has been a part of my life and I've never looked back. This year I was lucky enough to compete alongside my parents in the same international competition that inspired me to take up archery and represent Jersey against 24 other islands.

What are your archery performance highlights?
This past year I have competed at the International Island Games for the very first time which was held in Guernsey. I had a fabulous time and went with the view of it being a fabulous experience and a competition where I could gain a large amount of knowledge from other high-performing archers from around the world and no real expectations of finishing near the medal positions. I finished the first day with an individual bronze medal and was absolutely over the moon. I was extremely happy going home with this as it was way more than I had ever expected. I then exceeded my expectations even further throughout the course of the week by following my first medal with a Recurve team bronze medal, a mixed pair bronze medal, and finally an individual Head 2 Head silver medal.

Another highlight from this year was the amazing opportunity to represent Hampshire not only in county matches but also at the National County Team Tournament. This was an amazing competition, competing alongside many fantastic archers. We managed to finish in second place for the ladies' recurve team which I was so excited about and overall as a county finished first. This year has been one of my best yet and I am so excited for what is to come next year.

This year I also managed to achieve my Junior Master Bowman, due to the competitions I had planned this year it wasn't something I had thought of or really planned for, however in the last few weeks of the season my scores improved massively and I managed to achieve this award.

What are your goals for 2024 and beyond?
- Qualify for Orkney Island Games 2025 for the Ladies Recurve team
- Compete at Junior National Indoor
- Compete at BUCS competitions indoor and outdoor
- Build on individual distance scores and indoor scores

Manufacturer sponsors
Quicks Archery

Who has been most influential in helping you get to your current level?
My coach Philippa Lowe has been a massive help with my archery journey always supporting and guiding me to improve my shot and performance which has allowed me to compete in many competitions gaining great results. She has trained some of the GB athletes and gained a wide range of knowledge from this which has helped her coaching and my training too.

Who is your most admired archer?
Penny Healey - Having shot with Penny at the age of 11 when I was first starting archery it has been amazing to watch her grow as an archer. She is truly inspirational and seeing how far she has come and how calm she is when she shoots in competitions coming away with amazing results all the time.

What advice can you give to up and coming new archers?
Don’t give up, when you are first starting there is going to be a lot of progress made as you learn things. Don’t let the bad days dishearten you, keep going and focus on all the progress you have made. Once you are becoming more settled and thinking of getting your own kit consider trying out other peoples first or have a go in the shop in order to get a feel for the kit and see what you like.