Warren Collins proves he is a humble athlete by being gracious in defeat and humble in victory.

Fifteen-year-old Collins continues to climb to the top of the archery world proving he is just as capable, if not greater than some of his adult competitors.

February was a big month for Collins who travelled to Las Vegas to compete in the largest worldwide archery competition followed by a trip to Fort McMurray for the 2018 Alberta Winter Games.

While Collins did not medal in Vegas, he says the experience was well worth it. Out of 3500 archers, Collins was one of 50 representing Canada. "The first day I shot really well, but the last two days I dropped a few points but it was a huge learning experience for me." 

Collins competed against some individuals who have nearly twenty years experience and while disappointed with his results he knows defeat only makes him come back stronger. "It is a huge mental learning experience for me and it just makes my mental game tougher."

Equipment failure with his arrows resulted in Collins dropping a point. "Vegas made us switch to regulation and we had them (arrows) all fletched and wrapped and Vegas decided that they weren't going to allow wraps, so we had to have the arrows redone the week prior to leaving. The first day of competition was great but the second day the fletching started coming off the arrows and so the arrows had no direction and were just flying everywhere." With this being the first time the athlete has experienced equipment failure he will definitely make sure it is a non-issue in future competitions.

Thankfully, the Alberta Winter Games had a much happier outcome for Collins. Representing Zone 2, he was one of the top 8 athletes representing the zone and the youngest in his age category. "In the individual round, I ended up fourth overall but in the team round, I brought home silver." The competition was fairly tight, shared Collins, with only a few points separating the competitors. 

With Nationals just wrapping up this past weekend, Collins still has a couple of huge accomplishments he is striving for over the next while. After a year of trials, he is hoping to be named the Alberta representative for the 2019 Canada Winter Games as well as qualify for a spot in the Canadian 3D World's that will occur next year as well.

The future looks extremely bright for the young athlete and he is taking it all in stride. "I am going wherever the wind blows but I guess my main goal is the Olympics unless they don't allow compound archery, then Worlds." 

The Collins family continues to be very proud of Warren not only for his exemplary sportsmanship but his mentorship toward his younger competitors. With his future looking amazingly bright, securing sponsorship is something the family will continue to work on. "It has definitely been tight and sponsors are not out there like they were the first year, we didn't have any sponsors to go to Vegas this year because they were both oil companies that sponsored last year."

If you have a company or business interested in sponsorship you can reach the Collins family at 403-888-7748.

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