Emelia is a Level 4 Engineering Manufacturing Technician Apprentice working at Mazak, studying at GET. When she isn’t in the workshop or classroom, she is representing Great Britain in archery competitions all over Europe!
Her sights are currently set on the World Field Championships this September in Yankton, South Dakota.
We caught up with Emelia to find out more about how she balances her engineering journey with elite-level sport.
Q: What got you into Archery and how long have you been doing it?
A: I first tried archery at Warwick Castle. I did a ‘have-a-go’ session and I really enjoyed it, and then I decided to do like a beginners’ course at Droitwich Archery Club. Then I dislocated my knee and I had to have it reconstructed when I was 11 years old, and then I wasn’t able to play hockey or do gymnastics or anything anymore. I really enjoyed archery at the time, so I decided I would put all my effort into that.
Q: Where have you competed as part of GB team?
A: My first competition was in 2022, like internationally, in Romania at the European Youth Cup. Since then, I’ve done a European Championships in England, I’ve been to Bulgaria, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia…
Q: When did you decide that you wanted to choose engineering as a career path?
A: I went to RGS in Worcester and I had a scholarship for engineering and materials. Then I decided I didn’t really enjoy like the academic side, I didn’t enjoy being in a classroom. And then I just decided that I was going to take two GCSEs in engineering and materials and they wouldn’t let me, so I just begged to do it and they let me. I was much more practically and coursework minded. And then I knew I didn’t really want to do sixth form, so I decided to look at other options and then I stumbled across Mazak and HWGTA at the time, and I completed a level 3 apprenticeship.
Q: How has Mazak supported you throughout your apprenticeship with your archery?
A: Mazak have been really supportive. They give me the leave that I need to do archery, otherwise it literally wouldn’t be possible to take all the time off for the competitions that I need to do. And then they also sponsor me and give me some funding to assist with the costs of these trips, which are a lot.
Q: When is your next competition?
A: So at the moment, you don’t really know until like April due to like selections of things, but my next plan is the European Youth Cup which is in Bulgaria. But my big goal for this year is the World Field Championships in September in Yankton, in South Dakota.
Q: Although archery and engineering are very different, do you find there’s any crossover in the behaviours or work ethic needed to succeed in both?
A: I think I’ve taken a lot of skills from archery. I’ve got a coaching license, so I guess I learned to work with people. Being in a team for archery, you learn to communicate, you learn leadership, you learn all those things and you have to get on with things even if you don’t want to. It’s given me a lot of commitment, drive and resilience. So I guess I’ve put that over to my apprenticeship as well. And obviously the bow is very technical and I have to do a lot of tuning, a lot of setup on it, and obviously you need to know the bow, so I guess that’s kind of engineering as well.
Q: How will the sponsorship monies from GET support you?
A: As I previously said, the World Field Championships in Yankton—we do fund that ourselves, so GET’s donation will go towards that 100%. Archery’s a very expensive sport, especially as a lot of the trips are self-funded, so this donation will help me massively and I’m really grateful.
GET is proud to sponsor Emelia and we wish her the very best of luck in her upcoming selections and competitions.
