Hawkesbury Archery hits the target
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Have you watched one of the many Robin Hood movies ? Errol Flynn made one and Kevin Costner made his own variation ; even Russell Crowe decided that he wanted a piece of the action . It just looks cool , running around firing bows , hitting impossible targets , and winning the hand of the fair maiden of the day !
Well two of Hawkesbury ’ s very own are taking the nation by storm . Tristal Hoare and Emilly Griffiths are taking on Australia ’ s best at their respective age junior national championships . Tristal is currently 15 and competing against the best under u18s archers in the country . It ’ s a step up for her who competed in the u16s last year .
Tristal recently represented NSW in the
Tristal representing NSW at nationals . Credit : Adrian Yee .
national championships in only her third year of competition . She achieved third place and a bronze medal in the National Youth Australia championships WA Indoor Event , and first place in the Teams Event for NSW . Initially , Tristal tried archery at school and she enjoys shooting a bow and arrow .
Tristal likes the role-playing archery style games and competes at Penrith City Archers in Werrington . She is a compound bow shooter and wants to improve her form and get more accurate . Tristal discovered that she was in the NSW squad at the presentation night run by Archery NSW . Elite silver – Clout , Elite bronze indoor – third in compound .
Emily been doing archery for three years ; she tried out an archery course when she was 10 . Recently both girls went to Canberra and competed at the nationals ’ five-day event . Emily shot a field target , won a gold medal , and also had her personal best score . In target she came first in her age group .
Emily was chosen to represent Australia at the Trans- Tasman championship vs New Zealand in juniors in South Australia . In indoor archery , she was the champion too . She had a Waratah bow and shot a perfect 900 - few people can shoot a 900 .
Emily loves meeting new people and her confidence is growing the more she competes , her motto is show up and shoot . She shoots twice a week on Saturdays at a range of distances , and every second Wednesday there is an indoor session at 18m . Emily also does weights and strength training .
There are about 15 – 20 clubs that are under Archery NSW . Penrith City Archers are trying to re-grow their club and are working hard to build competition for kids and adults ; currently they have 200 active members . There are divisions based on bow type , compound bow , long bow , recurve , bare bow recurve . A compound bow has sights and stabilisers .
There are four disciplines in archery – targets , 18m and 25m indoor , clout shoot at an angle into the air to get the distance and field shooting which is live shooting outdoors . In competitions there are two lots of outdoor , one indoor and one field shoot . Tristal and Emily are both exceptionally good at the indoor .
Emily has won four individual and one overall gold for NSW . She is hoping
Emily Griffiths in action at nationals . Credit : Adrian Yee .
to represent Australia in the Trans- Tasman championships in April 2025 and represent Australia at the Junior World Championships in Canada in the same year . She competed for the Golden Arrow at Penrith and came second against all club members .
When Tristal first started , she was hoping to get to the Olympics . Her mum is noticeably confident that she will continue to do archery for the rest of her life . Emily ’ s biggest goal is to travel around the world representing Australia and seeing different countries . Roy Fratini coaches Emily and Tristal . With their talent in archery , they have the world at their fingertips .
UWS Solar Car taking on the world ’ s best
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
There have been massive changes in the world over the last 30 years with a strong focus on using renewable energy sources in your everyday lives . Sources such as solar power are an easy renewable energy source to look at ; it is even making its way into the car racing scene . One particular team in western Sydney is embracing the power of solar to take on the world and show what western Sydney can do .
The University of Western Sydney have a Solar Car Challenge team that build solar powered cars to highlight our best engineering talent to the world in the
Bridgestone Solar Power Challenge . The challenge attracts entrants from all over the world who design , build and implement cars that run on solar power .
In the Kingswood campus of UWS I had the privilege of meeting Nina Walters , team manager of the project , which is an entirely student-run project with people from all faculties of the uni .
The challenge that the team competes in is from Adelaide to Darwin and the team first entered the competition in 2012 , then 2013 , 2015 , 2017 , 2019 and 2023 . The team are in the Challenger class , the goal is to make the most efficient car which gets to the end as quickly as possible . It is a 5-day event with 40 teams from all around the world competing .
The team aims to make as much in house composite work as possible . They built the chassis in house , all of the panels and cells for the solar panels , but effectively the shell is made out of carbon fibre off campus . The whole design phase is conducted on site and also involves students from nonengineering faculties .
UWS Solar Challenge car 2023 . Credit : Bridgestone Solar Challenge
Many of the team are part of the university ’ s Mechatronics program , a mix of mechanical and electrical engineering . A team of 30 people travel to the event to keep everything running smoothly and includes designers , performance reviewers , media and sponsorship . Nina told me there is a highly level of strategy and rules plus a strong level of competition between competitors .
It might surprise you that these cars can run up to 130km an hour , an amazing speed for a solar powered vehicle . Nina said that there are strict guidelines and deadlines with university , media , finances , and procurement as the project is a 2-year cycle . The experience has been invaluable for Nina and the other team members who participate , and it gives them real world experience that they can take into the workplace .
The team previously competed in the American Solar Challenge and won the competition that they were not expected to do . Nina said that she was not at the
UWS Solar Car challenge . Credit : Bridgestone Solar Challenge .
university at the time , but the celebrations were akin to Australia winning the America ’ s Cup back in 1983 .
Bridgestone track the data of the challenge and sponsor it to assist with improvements and design of their tyres for the commercial car market . The technology has been used to help the car tyre market today . The body is a shell design made of carbon fibre , foam core , and nomex honeycomb which adds the strength to the whole car .
It is an amazing project and showcases the talent of the brilliant young minds in western Sydney and demonstrates the brilliant technology and competitive nature that comes through in people from Sydney ’ s west .
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 168 // MAY 2024 33