‘It’s a great honour’

Kelly and Sandy Taylor called it one of the greatest feats of their lives.

Bringing the largest event on the World Archery calendar to Winnipeg wasn’t easy, though.

A six-year process began in Madrid in 2019 and culminated at The Forks last summer. The Taylors were in Spain to watch their son, Austin, shoot in the World Archery Youth Championships when Kelly, the VP of Archery Manitoba at the time, thought about Winnipeg hosting the global event one day.

He pitched the idea to the other Manitoban parents in attendance, but was met with resounding doubt.

In fairness, Winnipeg had hosted a few national competitions in the past, but this was an entirely different beast. Kelly, however, remained steadfast that the provincial capital was equipped to handle such an event.

“I said, ‘You know, we could host this in Winnipeg,’ and the response was, ‘No, you can’t host it in Winnipeg. It’s too much money, they’d never come to Winnipeg. What are you doing?’” he said.

“Well, the event that was never coming to Winnipeg, came to Winnipeg.”

“The event that was never coming to Winnipeg, came to Winnipeg.”

While others scoffed at the idea, Sandy was enthused by her husband’s ambition. Meanwhile, Winnipeg Economic Development and Tourism was “all over” his idea, and Archery Manitoba and Archery Canada also thought he hit the bullseye.

“Why can’t we do this?” Sandy said. “If Virden can host curling, why can’t Winnipeg host a World Archery youth event?”

More than half a decade later, the Taylors’ persistence ended in a successful event that saw nearly 500 young athletes from 64 countries touching down in Winnipeg in August. For that, they were recently announced as the recipients of the 2025 Archery Manitoba Presidential Award, which recognizes individuals who have made remarkable contributions to archery at international, national or provincial levels.

“Behind every mediocre man is a great woman,” Kelly said of his wife.

While Kelly served as the event Chair, Sandy proved to be instrumental throughout the process, serving as the Volunteer Chair, which saw her recruit and manage 150 volunteers.

More importantly, she was unwavering in support of her husband, who had his own doubts about pulling off the massive undertaking at some points. Sandy was a calming voice during those rough stretches, most notably when it came time for Kelly to submit the bid for Winnipeg to host the event.

“It’s funny, because when I first mentioned it, she was right behind it, and it seemed every time that I expressed doubt, she was always there, pushing,” Kelly said. “She was instrumental in helping push this forward and keeping me on track with the vision that I had.”

Meanwhile, Kelly said watching the final day of the event was the pinnacle of his volunteering career.

Originally a four-day event, the 2025 World Archery Youth Championships were supposed to include over 560 athletes, but the looming Air Canada strike forced dozens of participants to bow out days before the competition started. The turbulence sent event organizers into a frenzy as they rushed to reconfigure the event and scrunched the tournament into a two-day affair.

“I saw the ups and downs in terms of the highs of, ‘Let’s do this,’ and then as it’s happening, the craziness, because that Air Canada strike really threw a wrench into the scheduling. But I also saw the commitment,” Sandy said of her husband, noting they hardly saw each other that week as they both worked tirelessly.

“In these six years, from the start to the finish, it was nice to see the dream that he pushed forward come to be fulfilled as he saw it standing at The Forks that day.”

Added Kelly: “The thing that struck me the most is that in this world where we’re having such division right now, on the archery field, those divisions completely melted away. You had Belarusians shooting next to Israelis. You had people from Japan shooting next to people from Thailand, and everyone just enjoying archery and not even thinking about any of the politics that the world really doesn’t need right now.”

The Taylors will be honoured at the Archery Manitoba Awards on Jan. 18 alongside 15 other award winners. Sandy joked that they’ve historically attended the awards banquet because their son is receiving an award. Now it’s mom and dad’s turn.

“It’s a great honour, and it wasn’t expected. We tried to do this for the benefit of the community.”

“It’s a great honour, and it wasn’t expected. We tried to do this for the benefit of the community and to raise the profile of archery, which I think we did, but to be recognized is a pretty good honour,” said Kelly.

“You know, I’ve never mobilized $2.9 million in capital before. So you can imagine the stress that was involved in putting it all together. It having been a success, being able to leave a legacy behind, in terms of some cash for the community, for the archery community… It’s gratifying. I can’t say enough about the experience.”

winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam