Machining apprentice hones sights to international level

Stephen has his sight set firmly on representing New Zealand in archery at the London Summer Olympics in 2012 as well as completing his engineering apprenticeship. He says the NCME Level 4 (Machining strand) is the ideal platform for him to hone his own equipment in order to get him there.

By day Stephen is one of seven machining apprentices at Buckley Systems Ltd in Mt Wellington, operating milling and lathe machines to make a range of steel objects that require high concentration and precision to give exact, smooth and flat finishes.

And he carries these same skills into designing and manufacturing his own archery equipment which is helping him in his competitive edge.

At 20 years old, Stephen has been competing in the international arena for 2 years and says all his hard earned wages go immediately to supporting his sporting passion.

While a bow costs about $5,500 new, it may not necessarily be the perfect fit for Stephen so a few years ago he began making his own equipment. His innovation and skill has shone through. He crafts minutely detailed ‘valve-like' pieces integral to the accurate flight of an arrow, first in brass which proved too heavy, then in aluminum. It all takes time - it may take him two weeks to tune a bow, adjusting the arrows followed by hours of shooting and refining, until it is perfect.

"All my weights are customised to suit me so I can achieve exactly what I want within my budget constraints," says Stephen. He shoots about 150 arrows a day and each one has to be perfect.

Stephen became interested in archery about six years ago when hunting with his Dad using a bow. He then transitioned into target shooting using a compound bow. He soon joined a club and about two years later competed at the World Championships in field archery. Not only did he win the juniors' title he also scooped up three world records.

Now competing in the Senior Men's Elite, Stephen recently returned from competing at the World Championships in Korea.

Stephen applauds his employers at Buckley Systems for not only giving him expert guidance in developing his engineering and machining skills but for also having the flexibility and time off for national and international competitions. "Without an understanding and supportive employer, none of what I plan to do would be possible," Stephen says.

The expert guidance comes two-fold as former New Zealand Men's Champion Shane ‘Snowy' Switzer is a fellow tradesman at Buckley's. Snowy is head of Archery New Zealand's High Performance Programme, of which Stephen is a member and he is Stephen's personal coach.

Snowy thinks Stephen has every chance of making the New Zealand Olympic team, despite it being one of the toughest sports to qualify in. While there are some 80 nations competing at world championship level, only 64 individuals are accepted to compete in archery at the Olympics.

"An archer might train for six years to get to the Olympics and they might only shoot 12 arrows," explained Shane.

"To make it to the Olympics is the pinnacle. It is unbelievably difficult and you have to be able to afford to qualify. We formed an elite squad because the New Zealand Olympic Committee said they won't consider athletes for selection unless they are part of their national sporting body's High Performance Programme."

As a former national title holder Snowy made his own bows, arrows and apertures for the eye piece - in fact he won the New Zealand title with a bow he produced. He is now passing on those skills to Stephen so that he too can win titles with self manufactured equipment.
"When manufacturers comes out with new equipment, we look at it and then say we can do better than that.

"Eighty percent of people I know in archery work within the engineering industry. We get limited funding from Archery New Zealand so it is really important for Stephen that he has a good secure job, as that is his own funding.

"As well as his sport he has to maintain his studies and keep up with his work," said Shane.

Buckley Executive Assistant - HR and training administrator Kim Reed oversees Stephen's apprenticeship progress and reports back to Competenz. She too is impressed with his commitment and tenacity, especially for someone so young.

Competenz Account Manager, Mark Powley concurs, "Stephen is well on track to meet his goals - complete his apprenticeship; make his own bow; compete at the Olympics and shoot well. They just may not necessarily be in that order."

For Stephen, the most immediate goal is to qualify for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi which requires him to shoot at five international tournaments in a two year period. He's achieved 50% of this goal and is confident of a 100% completion.