UNITY - Unity Composite High School received some amazing news about one of their archers. Sebastian Lauinger has been invited to participate with the Canadian National Team travelling to South Africa in July and August.
UCHS Archery coach, Michelle Van De Meutter, says, "Sebastian will compete in the NASP Tournament in Johannesburg at the end of July. Then he will have a few days off with the team where they will tour Cape Town. Sebastian will then finish his stay by going hunting with Allan Schenk Safaris at the beginning of August."
Van De Meutter adds, “Sebastian is the second UCHS archer to compete on the world stage. In 2017, Cyane Sperle, competed at the World NASP Tournament in Florida. The National in the Schools Archery Program is the acronym NASP. This means that any team in the world who belongs to the NASP Program competes with the exact same bows and arrows. This way all archers are on a level playing field. As well, all teams must have a coach with NASP certification.“
UCHS Archery team competes in Alberta tournaments because they are closer to our town than the Saskatchewan tournaments. The Canadian coach, Hal Ziprick, coaches at a school in Smoky Lake, Alta.
“I met him during our first year in 2017 at his tournament. Hal told me that he had two spots left to fill for the National team. Since our school has been a huge supporter of the Alberta tournaments and the fact that Sebastian has been a consistent shooter being top scorer in his age category, Hal wanted him to fill one of the two spots left. I told Hal I couldn’t be happier with his decision," says Coach Van De Meutter.
In an interview with the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald and SASKTODAY.ca, Sebastian said of the news, “I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be able to represent my school, my town, my province and even my country. I am honoured to be invited to compete in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the Canadian team at the AGA world tournament July 26-30.”
Sebastian says the entire Canadian team, including coaches, will be travelling together and he says he will be going with his mom.
His trip to South Africa has a huge financial burden. It will cost Sebastian around $5,000. A couple of organizations have been contacted to see if they can help with the finances. If any club or individual would like to help sponsor Sebastian, Van De Meutter says she can be contacted at the school.
