BOW SELECTOR Ella Gibson, daughter of former Cirencester Round Table member Rob, talks to Tabler about her rapid ascent to the top of Britain’s archery rankings Words by Adam Baggs
TABLER MAGAZINE * SPRING 2022
We have all faced that awkward silence in a Table business meeting when a member asks for a donation to their child’s sports team or school trip. What is the right response? Does charity start at home or will we be accused of nepotism by a community that has donated funds to good causes and might see it as us lining our own pockets?
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We faced this situation just a few short years ago in Cirencester when former member Rob Gibson asked us to purchase a bow for his daughter’s early foray into competition archery. Was it the right decision? We think so - just this month she was crowned European Indoor Champion - and there can be no denying that age the age of 21 she has a world opportunity ahead of her.
How did you get into archery? I’m from Cirencester, and got into archery when coaches from my now club came to my school. It started as just an hour a week. I really enjoyed it, and joined Deer Park Archers, based in Shurdington. I started shooting recurve, then some members asked me if I wanted to shoot barebow. I said ‘sure’, and went to a competition and came second. I got the competition bug and afterwards told the coaches I wanted to shoot for GB. They suggested I try compound if I wanted to go national, as I was too old to do well in recurve. I got my first bow in December 2016, and a year later I competed for GB for the first time. My dad had been an active part of
Cirencester Round Table and I grew up around that – doing the sleigh at Christmas and fireworks. Table was really helpful with progressing my career, they supported the cost of a competition in the early days as well as buying a new compound bow, which really helped. The bow Cirencester funded was used in my first GB competition at the World Indoor Championships. I came 19th, but that exceeded all our expectations. It helped me get experience, and from there I went to a European Cup and gained silver individually. I now train almost every day, normally one or two days off a week. I cycle my arrow use, 250 some days, 400 other days, depends if I’m working on fitness or stamina. I also do gym with a strength
