Levin archer Gary Coleman representing New Zealand

Levin archer Gary Coleman will represent New Zealand at an international competition in Australia.

Levin diesel mechanic Gary Coleman is ranked New Zealand’s number one archer.

The 47-year-old is sharpening his skills for the World Archery Oceania Championships in Adelaide next week, joining a New Zealand team taking on the best in Australia and the Pacific.

Coleman took up the sport in 2015 when living in Australia, but only casually. It was only on the realisation that his scores weren’t far off the elite archers that he began to take it a bit more seriously.

“I was shooting scores of 700 and didn’t really know what that meant,” he said.

A shoulder injury requiring surgery meant he gave the sport away and sold all his gear, and he didn’t give archery much thought when he moved back to New Zealand in 2019.

Levin deisel mechanic Gray Coleman represents New Zealand in archery.

But with his shoulder starting to feel good, he picked up the sport again early last year and immediately made his mark, so much so he recently took out the New Zealand Outdoor Championships.

Coleman was mostly self-taught. He has never had a coach. But as a former member of the New Zealand Army, he had experience with firearms and knew that breathing and relaxation played a large part in achieving accuracy.

In qualifying for his first major tournaments, it wasn’t so much nerves that were a problem in Coleman’s case initially, it was excitement. But he quickly learnt to master it.

“You have to stay calm and chill out. In the first couple, it wasn’t so much nerves - just excitement. I was so excited I couldn’t stop shaking,” he said.

He did the majority of his training at an archery range in Palmerston North as time allowed, although his boss Marty Sayer lets him practice in a safe and enclosed spot at the Levin Truck Services yard after work if he needs to.

“He’s helped out with sponsorship too,” he said.

Coleman joins a large contingent of New Zealand archers heading to Adelaide, mostly age-grade representatives.

- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.