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A real straight shooter
By CAREY TARR Special to the Herald Ron Boorman is right on target at 72 years young.
07 May, 2005
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During the past 40 years, archery has become more than a hobby for the active senior. "I do this for a living," he said between rounds of shooting at the B.C. Seniors Games on Thursday morning
Nine targets placed evenly apart stood across the grassy field outside Westbench elementary school facing a row of archers
All that stood between the shooters and their targets were tags marking the 35-, 45- and 55-metre lines. As soon as the competition got underway, the rain started coming down and didn't let up for a few hours. "I love this game, even if it rains," said Boorman, who also said he doesn't usually shoot in the rain
Boorman said he was brought up learning to shoot
"When I was a kid, they trained us with rifles for the war and stuff." He carries around many war stories from his time in the service, but after 20 years in the army he wanted to get away from shooting guns. "I was a gunner, fired those big cannons," he said
Now, he shoots for fun. Arrows. At targets. "It's a great tension relief, all your focus is on the target." Boorman said the sport attracts lots of lawyers, doctors and others in highstress jobs looking to get away from their daily routine
For more than 30 years, Boorman has made his living through archery
The chairman of archery for the B.C. Seniors Games, he also has a store that makes, sells and repairs archery equipment and owns an archery school where he and his staff train newcomers to the sport. Making arrows is what originally got him into the business of archery. "Since 1969, lots of world-class people have gone through our school," he said, adding he expects to see more and more as the sport continues to grow
Although this is the first year he has been part of the B.C. Seniors Games, Boorman has been shooting the last two years in the Washington State Summer Games and was the first chairman for the B.C. Summer Games
The past 35 years have led him to Las Vegas for the largest indoor competition in the world
"I've been there the longest, all the old guys died," he said
After being involved in the sport for so long, it has also turned into a social event for him. "That's why I like Vegas. Two thousand shoot there, and they're 2,000 buddies." Some of those buddies, including his wife, stood beside him at Thursday's event
"It's a real ball meeting up with all these guys, and I love the competition." Sporting top-of-the-line equipment, except for the quiver he had specially made when he started shooting, Boorman's accuracy is admired by many other shooters
"I used to shoot 10-9-8. That's really, really good shooting. I was known all over the world for shooting 10-9-8." An arrow in the yellow centre of the target receives 10 points. Moving away from the centre, the red, blue, black and white areas of the target are worth fewer points. Five ends of six arrows make one round, and throughout the competition competitors move closer toward their target, from 55 metres to 45 metres to 35 metres. When Boorman isn't shooting arrows, he's in the pool
"You've gotta have certain muscles to hold that bow up right," he said. "The best exercise I know of to maintain those muscles is swimming." At 72, he's far from retiring, and is confident he'll be back at the next Seniors Games |
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