Mr Ritchie chose Paringa because he was told it was an Aboriginal word meaning close to the water. It was a name that fitted the club well - given their meeting place at Royal Park - and it has continued to fit well throughout its many moves through Launceston.

"I had a damn good time as an archer," Mr Ritchie said.

Mr Ritchie's time at the club was short lived. He had been a bowman during his time at university, but as he moved into a professional life he found himself grading papers instead of at the archery range. Mr Ritchie worked as a teacher at Deloraine before later moving down South.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Next week he will be the guest of honour as the Paringa Archer's gather to celebrate their 60^th year since formation. Mr Ritchie said he was not sure what he will say at the celebration yet, but that it was an honour the club invited him back.

Over its 60-year history the club has had many homes. It started at Royal Park, but soon moved to St Leonards. The need for a soccer facility then forced them to leave St Leonards, with the club then landing at its final resting place at Trevallyn Reserve.

The move to Trevallyn was prompted after a club member and The Examiner employee, Richard Speer, did a story on the reserve. After writing the story, Mr Speer asked if the archery club would be allowed to use the area.

Once they'd received approval, the club built a clubhouse on the land and have called the reserve home ever since. An indoor range was built in 2018 which allows the club to shoot all-year round, regardless of weather conditions.

Club president Jeff Garner said it was amazing how far the club had come in 60 years. He said it was all thanks to the work of volunteers.

"It's just amazing to get where we are in 60 years - I wish I was around another 60 to see what it is going to be like," Mr Garner said.

Mr Garner said he was excited to have former members of the club return to celebrate the anniversary.

"Hopefully they will all get together and have a good night and a chat about things," he said.

"As well as the [historical] display we will have some old memorabilia out for them to talk about and one of our older members Murray Frith is bringing up a scrapbook from the years gone by.

"I'm sure they will all get around and have a good talk."

Paringa Archers runs free public come and try sessions on the first Wednesday, second Saturday and fourth Saturday of every month.

The club runs public come and try sessions which are the first Wednesday of the month, the second Saturday of the month and the fourth Saturday of the month.

"They can register online on our website and then they can come up and try. We've got qualified Archery Australia coaches which can help them out," Mr Garner said.

Debbie Draeger, who joined the club about five years ago, encouraged anyone interested to come along to the public sessions to give it a go. She got involved in the club as a way to tick off an item on her bucket list, now she is a full-time member and is in charge of setting up the display for next weekend's celebration.

"Like a lot of people I talk to it was one of those things on the bucket list - 'yeah I would really like to do that, but I don't know how to go about it'," Ms Draeger said.

"My nephew joined so I went along with him and joined as well. I just find it a really welcoming and nice social group."

The social aspect of the club is just one of the drawing cards for Ms Draeger. There is also access to high level coaching and high level archers who are willing to share their skills with others.

Clint Freeman is one of those. He joined the club as a 13-year-old with his father in about 1987 and is now the longest serving member.

He got involved through a come and try session and fell in love with the individual nature of the sport.

About 16 years later he was the crowned World Compound Champion at the 2003 World Archery Championships. Then, he won the World International Field Archery Association three years later.

"I started showing a bit of promise in later '91 and then '92 I won my first national championship. Then partly due to that I made my first national team," Mr Freeman said.

"From there always wanting to get better led me to more world championships and eventually that led me to be able to win one.

"It was one of my major goals to achieve and at that time I had held world records for the rounds that were shot, but never quite [got there]. I had previously, before that moment, had won a bronze at the world championships so it was good to go those two steps further.

"[People at the club were very happy], it was the first time in Australia that a compounder had won an individual championship, so it was a big moment for the sport and for the club."

Mr Freeman said he was looking forward to catching up with some of the old members of the club at the 60^th anniversary next week.

"It will be good to see some past members that are no longer with the club now but might come along," he said.

"It will be good to catch up with everyone again."

Sign up to one of our newsletters: