The Sault’s Lana Perry – a professional, award-winning competitive archer – recently scored a bull's eye for her skills as a coach.
Perry was one of 15 people presented with a prestigious Ontario Coaching Excellence Award at a ceremony held in Toronto last Saturday.
The awards are presented by the Coaches Association of Ontario (CAO) in partnership with Hydro One and the Ontario Ministry of Sport.
Held during National Coaches Week at BMO Field in Toronto, the ceremony was before a Toronto Argonauts home game against the Edmonton Elks.
“We had a ceremony upstairs in a suite at BMO Field and then we all got invited to go down and unfurl the Canadian flag at centre field," Perry said.
"We got to carry the Canadian flag and there were fireworks going off. They were doing a thank you to our Canadian Armed Forces as well so they had a fighter jet fly over our heads. It was a very incredible experience.”
Perry, who has competed and won at archery tournaments locally, provincially, nationally and on the world stage, was nominated for an Ontario Coaching Excellence Award by local archer Lochlyn Good, one of Perry's students
Thanks to Perry, Good has competed in the sport and is now also coaching.
“It was really nice to be nominated because I absolutely love what I do,” Perry said.
“I care a lot about the kids and adults that I coach. Coaching is something I will continue putting a lot of effort into.
"It’s rewarding for me to be able to take people on a pathway through a sport that I’ve gotten a lot out of for myself.”
Perry also won the Joan McDonald Coach of the Year Award from Archery Ontario in 2023.
Apart from competing, Perry has been coaching for the past 25 years.
Perry has had a number of memorable coaching experiences, having coached Team Canada at the World Archery 3D Championships in Mokrice, Slovenia roughly a year ago.
“The North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia in 2023 was a really fun and different experience to be a part of as a coach for Team Ontario.
"It was a big cultural learning experience for me. I learned as much from the athletes as I taught them. I am non-Indigenous but I absolutely love and appreciate the culture,” Perry said.
She hopes to coach at the next North American Indigenous Games to be held in Calgary in 2027 and will be coaching young athletes at the next Ontario Summer Games.
As a competing athlete, Perry hopes to enter provincial tournaments next spring.
“Archery is an amazing way for people to connect with themselves and with others and to build self-esteem,” Perry said.
As a coach, she enjoys watching someone achieve their goals. She said she finds that very rewarding.
“That includes watching some seven-year-old kid break a balloon for the first time or an older person winning a championship medal that they've been working toward for a couple of years.
"I had those experiences and now I give back so that other people can experience what I got a little piece of growing up."