Yering District Archers’ Ethan Brodie came back from New Zealand with brilliant results.
Brodie has been into archery for seven years, and he finally made a debut in an international competition, the 2025 Trans-Tasman Challenge.
The Trans-Tasman Challenge is a youth archery competition between Australia and New Zealand.
This year, it was held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 26 to 29 September, where the Archery Australia Youth Team reclaimed the 2025 Trans-Tasman Challenge title after seven years.
While it was a challenging experience for the 13-year-old to go overseas without his parents, Brodie said it was a great experience.
“I was quite nervous. I didn’t have my parents with me, just team managers and friends, but it was still fun. I shot really well and made lots of friends,” he said.
“In the 720 ranking round, I brought home a gold medal, which is amazing, with a score of 692 out of 720, which I was pretty happy with.
“I also did the individual in which I came fifth, and then I also did the teams matchplay where I came fifth as well.”
Brodie first got into the sport of archery in 2019.
A friend of his dad invited him to Yering District Archers, and Brodie fell in love with the sport right after shooting his very first arrow.
The dedicated archer started training in earnest at the beginning of this year and got an opportunity to participate in the National Youth Archery Championships in April.
His hard efforts came to fruition by winning a gold medal in the 720 round in Canberra, which qualified him to represent Australia in the Trans-Tasman Challenge.
The 13-year-old was excited to grab this opportunity and didn’t want to get back home with any regret.
He focused on training before and after school to prepare for his international competition debut.
“Every morning, I would get up and shoot about maybe 50 arrows, and then I would go to school,” Brodie said.
“I would stretch a little bit when I got home from school, and then I would shoot about 60 to 80 arrows in the evening every day.”
The gold medal winner appreciated his coach Jack Hudson and the Yering District Archers for their support along his way.
Brodie said Jack Hudson has been the best coach he could have ever had, giving him many tips and good feedback.
“My coach tells me what I’m doing great, what I might need to improve on and how to do this,” Brodie said.
“The club’s been great. They’ve done so much for me, supporting me along my way to all shooting nationals and getting to this international event, cheering me on.
“(In the future), I really want to get to a World Archery, shooting the outdoor 50 metres in front of big crowds.”
