National champion archer claims another trophy

A YOUNG Ripon Grammar School archer ranked number one in the UK battled torrential rain and strong winds to triumph in the Northern Counties championship.

James Howard, 11, represented Yorkshire juniors when he shot a traditional English longbow in a tournament against Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland.

Winning the individual distance and overall longbow golds, alongside the team longbow trophy, this is the second year running he has been named Northern Counties champion.

James, from Ripon, is a certified Master Bowman and was inspired by his mother to take up archery when he was eight years old, joining the Thirsk Bowmen club.

He went on to represent Yorkshire for three years running and now holds four national records in longbow.

The highlight of his archery career was being ranked Junior Longbow Male Number 1 by Archery Great Britain last year, based on his tournament scores throughout the year.

James got his Grand Master Bowman Classification this year after shooting high level scores several times in a record status competition.

But it is the fun side of archery, rather than the competition, which he enjoys, he says: “I like meeting lots of new friends and going to new places to shoot tournaments.”

He also enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons, Scouts and Air Rifle shooting: “At school, I like aspiring authors and history debate club,” he says.