First Eastern Canadian Tournament. The Results are IN!
For those of you that might have missed all our original posts on the subject, on the 5th of February 2017, Archers Arena has hosted the first eastern Canadian combat archery tag tournament! From far in wide, Toronto has received a team from Ottawa, one from Windsor, two from Montreal, and we had five teams representing us. With intense gameplays fought, ridiculous turnabouts, quick moves and quick thinking, there is only one word we can use to describe this event: epic.
On the eve of the battle, both Ottawa and Montreal teams came to practice at the Arena, leading to the first contact between the various people who were going to play each other the next day. The comradery was frank and forthcoming, although you could tell that no one would go easy on the others the following day. It was great to see so many passionate people that just love the game of archery dodgeball, and who work at bettering themselves all the time.
When the morning came, coffee and breakfast were awaiting all the players, but the hype was already alive and going. The atmosphere was unreal, the anticipation crackled in the air as all awaited to take each other on. The game was on. Bows at the ready, getting the stretches in, focus was all on strategy and gameplay. Friendly banter in the air, with the underlying current of rivalry made it even more intense, yet still fun.
Throughout the morning, the plays were non-stop. Teams were learning how to face each other and strategies had to be changed and adapted to who was playing who. Evaluating the other players and understand how they play combat archery tag, and how to counter them was not an easy task, but it had to be done in order to win the tournament! After the first few rounds that comprised Round Robin style of play, Toronto came out on top with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, while Montreal took 4th and 5th.
However, in a complete change of pace during the finals, Montreal worked together for an epic comeback to win the tournament, and won against the newly reformed team Kyron’s Angels, known previously as Wetshots, which did end up winning our 7th local tournament. As prizes, Montreal Originals ended up going home with six of our beautiful, hand-painted 26 pound bows.
All there is left to say is that it was truly our pleasure to host such great teams from all over. All we can hope for is to have an even broader turnout from more Canadian cities in the next major tournament, which will be hosted sometime during the summer. We will be working out, and standardizing, Canadian rules so we can all train and play in the same frame of mind. Looking forward to the next epic combat archery tag Canadian tournament!
Regional Tournament!
Ladies and gentlemen, these are great times indeed! Not only do we get to witness the birth of an entirely new sport, but we also get to see it evolve and grow faster than we could have ever hoped for. You have read correctly: Archers Arena has the honor of hosting the first ever Regional Tournament! What does that entail? It means teams from cities such as Ottawa, Montreal, London and Waterloo are coming down to Toronto for a high-caliber combat archery tag tournament on February 5th 2017.
At first, the idea of combat archery tag was to be just a fun little game that combines elements and tactics from numerous other enjoyable pastimes, but it has quickly transformed into a more competitive gameplay than that. It has effectively morphed itself into a team sport, where communication, teamwork and chemistry are a must to bring your team to victory.
It’s a great feeling to see that we are going somewhere, moving forward, and that there are awesome people all over the country who share a passion for this new sport. Personally, I find that there isn’t anything quite as satisfying as hitting a moving target. It triggers something in me that’s almost like basic animal instinct, and intensifies the experience I get out of it as a whole. I’ve always been very competitive, and firing my bow brings that side out even more when I am met with other people who are on the same wavelength as me. Catching someone’s arrow, as well as dodging shots flying for your head, both give you such a satisfying feeling and keeps the intensity high up there.
Part of the pleasure is to continuously face new people that can surprise you with new tactics, new shots, or even with a faster quick-draw than yours. This tournament is going to allow for such surprises to take place and for a new flame of competition to set us all on fire. After all, this becomes a competition between cities as to who is the best. Obviously, we aim to win. All that being said, if you still haven’t had the chance to try it out, make sure you give yourself the pleasure of doing so! It’s a lot of fun, and you can bring in a group of people who will take it as seriously as you, depending on what kind of experience you want to have.
If you’ve already played before and do want a more competitive feel, come on over on Tuesday nights at 7:30 for Coach Night, 20$ for the whole evening, where you get to play with/against regular members and coaches. Definitely a step up from what you may be used to, so come prepared!