The team has arrived in Honiara and settled in. The food is great, and the weather is hot hot hot! Photo's added to the gallery and a video clip from Practice Day will help you keep up to date with the team/
It’s felt like waiting for Christmas, but the announcement has finally been made: the Pacific Games is officially here. As the article says ‘young archers, Finn Matheson and Nuala Edmundson, have been selected to compete in the individual and mixed team recurve, as well as the ranking 720 round and matchplay events at the Pacific Games. They say they’re excited to be competing against the best athletes in the Pacific.
“It means so much to me to be selected. It means that I can continue to follow my dreams and compete in the sport that I love. Knowing that all my training and efforts are helping me to progress down this path that I have chosen means the world to me,” said Matheson.
The archery competition at the Pacific Games is a qualification competition for Paris 2024.
“Being selected to represent Aotearoa at the Pacific Games is a huge honour for me,” added Edmundson.
“It’s an important and exciting step on my archery journey, and I can't wait to represent our country at the highest level. I am hoping Finn and I win the mixed teams Olympic spot for New Zealand at this event, and I personally want to shoot a new international PB at these Games.
It’s all gotten very real!
Weightlifting & Archery Athletes Named to New Zealand Team for Pacific Games | New Zealand Olympic Team
Late last week the New Zealand Team kit arrived and it's fabulous. Suddenly, the Pacific Games got real ... as though they weren't already. The team has chosen the attached pic to show themselves off in their Podium kit, and they look fantastic. If you want to see more of David Edmundson's priceless pics you can find them of the team's Facebook group 'Follow the Archery NZ team to the Pacific Games.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/319052854131965
Thanks for contributing to the team's givealittle. Still a way to go but we're on track - thanks to you.
In Year 7 I was diagnosed with HFASD.
That’s High Functioning Autism Spectrum Deficit Disorder.
‘Disorder’ means different, and, in my case, I’d say it’s not a negative thing at all. I think it’s a gift.
It does mean I have a limited food selection, though, and a few strong food dislikes. Someone with autism may be sensitive to the taste, smell, colour, and texture of foods. They may limit or avoid some foods. Dislikes may include strongly flavoured foods, fruits & vegetables, certain textures or change in texture.
While this might seem like a disadvantage, I don’t see it that way. I am able to fulfil my body’s needs with my limited diet without forcing myself to eat foods that are challenging to eat.
One of my favourites foods is pizza.
I can’t enjoy some of the toppings you might enjoy, for instance no meat - I’m a vegetarian - so I choose Margarita pizzas because the pizza base is perfect, mozzarella cheese is a favourite, and tomato paste is delicious.
Below, you can see a photo of me making my favourite food.
Seriously, though, I’m really glad to be high functioning autistic because many of the other qualities associated with autism give me an advantage when it comes to sport and training. Angus Ross, HPSNZ Strength Coach, when we asked him what to do when coaching neuro-diverse people, he replied ‘weaponise the gift’.
The photograph is of me ‘weaponising my gift’.
I also love sushi.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 😊
Please donate to our givealittle. Thank you.
When Lexie teased favourite recipes (yes, I did, Finn's to come) she had no idea I had one already up my sleeve! I went to Kind Cafe in Morningside a number of years ago and had some delicious tofu tacos, and quickly learned how to make a similar dish at home. Yum!
Tofu Tacos
Recipe adapted from Erin Clarke
PREP: 20 minutes COOK: 20 minutes
I love love love this dinner. Not only is it high in protein (necessary for me to build muscle), high in magnesium (important for healthy muscles! Tofu, black beans, and avocado are all full of magnesium) and full of fresh veggies, it’s absolutely delicious! Also, it’s plant-based, so great for the environment (and a great way to get into tofu, if you’re not a tofu lover). It’s super easy to make, really easy to eat, and really hard to keep leftovers from! My favourite recipe by far - I hope you enjoy.
Like all good teases, you now have to go to our Facebook group to get the recipe details. Believe me, it's worth it ... and while you're about it, if you can, pop a few dollars on our givealittle page. Here's the Facebook group link:
Finn played soccer for Suburbs, hockey for Somerville, swum for King's, represented Auckland at lawn bowls, & played softball. He began karate at 5, was a national champ by age 10 & achieved international honours as a Junior at the 4th World Karate Champs in Romania & at the 6th World Karate Champs in Italy. He’s a 3rd dan black belt.
Archery is Finn’s #1 sport.
He joined Auckland Archery Club in 2015 & first wore 'the fern’ at the World Archery World Cups in China & Turkey & at the Youth World Championships in Spain in 2019. In 2020 he attended a pre-Olympic Training Camp in California but then ~ Covid.
After months of back yard shooting, strength work at home, & mental management online, he took off to the World Archery Excellence Centre in Switzerland to train for five weeks under renowned Korean coach Sally Park. There, he shot Tier One scores, broke New Zealand records & came back a different archer.
2023 saw him selected for the Oceania Champs in Adelaide where he won gold in Mixed Teams, silver in Individual Matchplay, & bronze in Ranking, then on to Singapore for Asia Cup #3 where he shot a PB and, in November, it’s the Pacific Games where he & Nuala will shoot the Mixed Teams event for a place for NZ in Paris in 2024.
At King's he was ‘Junior Sportsman of the Year’ & won the ‘Champion Archer’ trophy from 2017 to 2020. After leaving school he was invited back as a member of the PE Staff I/C archery.
In January, Finn was named Archery New Zealand ‘Coach of the Year’.
You can donate to Nuala and Finn's givealittle by using this QR code. It works. I know I tried it :-)
Archery is a minor sport in Aotearoa New Zealand, we run across each other often.
Nuala and Finn are no exception.
When you’re a good shooter and you find others with similar aspirations good things happen. Nuala and Finn have shot together – and against each other - often so it’s no surprise that they should team up.
Finn started shooting in 2017 at primary school when the gym club he belonged to closed. Cricket coach Simon Herbst offered to fill the gap with archery. Finn was offered a place and grabbed it with both hands. A month later Coach Herbst suggested he’d done all he could, and that the young man should join a club. Auckland Archery Club was closest, and he’s been a member ever since.
As a kid, Nuala was really into reading, and drawn to fantasy books like ‘Lord of the Rings’ which had archers in them. At year 6 camp, she tried archery for the first time, and it was everything she imagined! Her parents bought her a bow for Christmas 2014, and she joined Mountain Green Archery Club no more than a month later.
She’s never looked back.
COVID arrived in 2020 with the cancellation of the Oceania Championships in March. Lockdowns followed with no international events until early 2023 when they ramped up again with Trans-Tasman and the Oceania Championships in Adelaide, the Youth World Championships in Ireland, and Asia Cup #3 in Singapore.
Next, it’s the Pacific Games in the Solomons in November where these fine young athletes will do New Zealand proud.
Archery NZ has named Cushla Matheson as the Pacific Games team coach/manager. Cushla is the World Archery Development Officer for Oceania, a member of the Archery NZ board, and a member of the Auckland Archery Club committee. She is a World Archery Level 3 Coach, an Archery NZ Performance Coach and, in her spare time, she's Finn's Mum.
Cushla has a background in banking and international relations and is a NZ karate representative and 3rd dan black belt in Goju-ryu karate. Cushla has managed NZ archery teams to The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, to World Cups in Shanghai and Antalya, the 2019 World Archery Youth World Championships and World Archery Asia Cup #3 in Singapore. While she is the manager of the team, funds raised through this givealittle will only go to the athletes and Cushla will self-fund her own travel and registration. We wish her well in her role and thank her for stepping up. This attached image was taken during indoor training with Nuala and Finn at Auckland Archery Club and is the excellent work of David Edmundson.
Big thanks to the 30+ donors who have contributed so far and we celebrate their generosity. If you would like to support the archers, you can do so through this page and follow the teams via this Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/319052854131965
#EarnTheFern
Finn started archery by accident. When his school lost its gym coach, another teacher started an archery group, so Finn picked up a bow. Auckland Archery Club followed and from 2015 Finn blossomed under Coach Rob Turner, qualifying in 2019 for the NZ Senior Men's team at sixteen. In Shanghai, at World Archery World Cup #2, he shot a personal best of 626 showing he had both the mental game and the technique to compete at the top level. Then it was a week’s training with the Chinese Taipei team at Taiwan National Sports University, on to Turkey for World Archery World Cup #3 in Antalya, then the World Archery Youth World Championships in Madrid where he progressed to the 3rd round of matchplay by shooting 7 consecutive 30s.
2020 started at the Pre-Olympic Training Centre in the US and home to Covid lockdowns. No international duty until March 2023 with Oceania Championship selection and a full set of bling, then on to Singapore for World Archery Asia Cup #3 where he again shot a personal best, this time in monsoon heat and humidity.
Finn shoots over 1000 arrows in a five-day programme interspersed by three gym days. It's eat, sleep, archery, repeat. Finn considers his five weeks at the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland training under Korean coach Sally Park where he shot a personal best of 659 and, in competition, a 649 as his key experience so far.
Finn is also a karate international in karate and has competed in three world championships.
#EarnTheFern
Our athletes talk a lot about the importance of support and in particular whanau. Both archers have family members deeply involved in the sport and each expounds the importance of that involvement. More about this soon on our Facebook group as well as here, but until then Nuala's Mum shoots and also coaches and her Dad is responsible for a good percentage of the quality photographs of our sport in this country. Finn's Mum Cushla works for World Archery, is on the board of Archery NZ, and the committee of Auckland Archery Club. She's also a Level 3 World Archery Coach. Finn's other Mum Lexie is a member of the World Archery Gender Equity Committee and an ex-chair of Archery NZ.
The family that plays together stays together.
Nineteen-year-old New Zealand archer Nuala Edmundson is having a golden year. She’s pulled on the black shirt three times in 2023 and already collected an extraordinary array of international bling including four thoroughly earned golds including in Individual Matchplay at the World Archery Oceania Championships and three at the Trans-Tasman Challenge in Target, Mixed Teams Matchplay and Teams Matchplay.
Outstanding.
Air fares, accommodation, and event registration are expensive every time you travel and that’s why we’re asking you for your help. Nuala has made us proud at the World Archery Youth World Championships in Limerick, Ireland, twice in Australia and now in the Solomon Islands and every cent you can share with her counts. You’ll certainly get value for your contribution – and if you’d like a wee bit more, our raffle is excellent value!
You can purchase raffle tickets for a weekend getaway at https://www.waiwerabeach.co.nz
from Cushla at cushla.matheson@gmail.com.
Thanks so much!
Firstly, thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. The page has been up for six days and we have 18 donations already. The team is beyond happy. Keeping you all in the loop, training is going really well with two days each week dedicated to shooting as a team. Individual training takes place at both Mountain Green and Auckland club ranges on all five shooting days. In addition, there are gym sessions being rocked by both archers with wellness at the forefront of everyone's mind. Today's pics are of the additional feature of shooting which is setting up and packing down the range. Sometimes the team is lucky and someone else has already done this work but mostly it's the team who set up the targets and ensure all the safety gear is in place. A note: at the Auckland range a reasonable amount of time each session is spent moving the sheep and lambs out of the firing line and caring for the ducklings and the pheasants all to the accompanying sounds of tui and rosella in the trees. Idyllic, yes, but essential work that needs to be done as well.
Please share this post with your friends and followers and do join our Facebook group. Big thanks to David Edmundson for the photographs and to you for your donation.
Thanks everyone.
Please share this page and join our Facebook group.
