A teenage Burnham-On-Sea archery enthusiast has been selected to compete for the Junior Irish Archery Team.
Darragh Joyce, 13, is in year 9 at Highbridge’s King Alfred School Academy and is a member of Burnham Company of Archers.
From November to January, Darragh has attended trials in Ireland in a bid to be selected for the Irish Junior Archery Team for 2019.
Demonstrating his commitment, he has caught a 2.30am ferry from Holyhead on several occasions to be in Dublin on the Saturday morning for the trials sessions.
And it’s all paid off, because on Saturday it was announced that he has been selected.
He will now be travelling to Ireland each month for team training in preparation for the tournaments later in the year when Ireland takes part.
Darragh’s father, Adam, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The ultimate goal this year will be to qualify for the World Junior Championships in August, which are being held in Madrid.”
“On Tuesday, Darragh will also travel out to Las Vegas to compete in the world’s largest archery tournament, which already has more than 3600 archers entered across all the age groups and bow disciplines.”
To help with the cost of the travelling, and tournaments throughout the UK, Ireland and beyond he has started up a Go Fund Me page, and would welcome any support from local businesses who wish to sponsor him.
For anyone who would like to help, see https://www.gofundme.com/irish-junior-team-training.
