Shoot Your Shot: Meet Maddy Boyle, 20 year-old International Archer and Aspiring Olympian
Caity Boyle
Art by May Thet Naing
At 20 years old, International Archer Maddy Boyle has represented Australia in New Zealand, Spain and America. Now, she has her eyes set on the 2024 Paris Olympics. A young woman in a male-dominated sport, I sat down with Maddy to discuss how she progressed into womanhood as an elite athlete. She’s hoping to encourage other women to enter similar male-dominated domains by recounting her trials, tribulations and successes. Through these experiences, Maddy demonstrates how she became the woman she wanted to be and the difficulties that came with this.
Maddy is also my younger sister. We’ve had an inseperable bond for as long as I can recall. Her development into an admirable woman and inspiring young athlete has only increased the immense love I have for her, which already seemed as if it physically couldn’t grow further. Everyday she inspires me to be a better person through her compassion for others, her selflessness and her resilience. These are the attributes of Maddy that you will also come to know as you read this interview.
Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders
What originally sparked your interest in Archery? Did you feel as if there was a place for you in the sport?
At 11 years old my brother and his friends were shooting their bows in our backyard and let me have a shot. I immediately loved it. After a decent career in soccer and cricket, I developed sever’s disease, affecting my Achilles and the bones in my lower leg. I was forced to stop doing both, first cricket and then premier league soccer. That’s when I decided to ask dad to visit the Penrith Archery fields that we would drive past on my way to previous practise sessions to do a Try Archery event. I was lent a cheap club bow to shoot on my first day. I was the smallest of the group, the youngest, one of the very few females, and assumed what I felt was the role of ‘little girl’.
I do recall feeling like there was a place for me there though. Confidence in my ability after my experiences in soccer and cricket definitely helped. In general though, I was met with positivity. I actually had a man approach me as I continued to use the facility, commending me on my efforts and telling me I had a talent.
Would you say you had different experiences as a young girl in the sport to how you experience it as a young woman?
When I was younger, we weren’t expected to shoot anywhere near the same as the open archers or some of the male archers. If I beat a boy, my gender would be mentioned. If I challenged another male competitor, everyone would taunt him for being beaten by a girl.
I do believe it is better now. The younger girls are incredible these days!
I now see a very even playing field as a young woman. At my best, there were no biases directed to my competitions. If I went out with a male archer at the top of his level, no one would assume that he would win. There are different expectations for girls and boys at lower age levels. If you’re a young female archer in Cubs, Intermediate or Cadet (ages 8-18) you will only compete with boys in Match Play Event, and will have handicaps automatically set up for your shoot. However, young women compete regularly with men in tournaments for Under 20’s, Open Age, Master, Veteran and Veteran Plus. Competitions are based on qualifying rankings so a mixed pool is expected.
What is it like existing as a woman within a heavily male-dominated sport?
When I was younger, my primary motivation was to beat the boys. The actual sport itself is fair. I struggled more when I went into the business side of things. Unfortunately, the workplace I entered through my archery has a sexist culture. Customers would only want to speak to men. I felt as if I had to explain how I was qualified enough to speak to this person, which made it awkward for me. Sponsoring was also difficult. I feel that larger companies are less inclined to women like me sponsorships, targeting male competitors instead. Their social media platforms are full of men. While some smaller companies are more gender inclusive, this is something that I have experienced as a challenge throughout my sporting career.
During your transition from teenager to adult, how did archery and your status as an elite athlete impact your development?
Unfortunately, as a young woman I experienced disordered eating and depressive episodes, something far too normal in the lives of people like myself. At 16 I left school, having felt ostracized and ‘different’. I sought out comfort in food. I also began working in an archery retailer, making my own money. I gained a large amount of weight, a fellow workmate making snarky comments often, causing me to become insecure. As my mental health worsened, so did my relationship with eating and my body. At the end of 2016, I got braces and due to the fact I wasn’t able to eat solid foods, dropped a few kilos. I learnt how restriction worked. I didn’t understand minerals, nutrients or calories but I now knew eating less resulted in weight loss. I dedicated my time to learning about it, developing an obsession with counting, exercising and eventually a fear of fats.
This all began to affect my athletic performance. I couldn’t think of anything but food. I was tired and weak. Regardless, I still made it to America in 2017 for the Indoor Junior Worlds. I stopped restricting and let myself eat as I wanted but would engage in negative behaviour to justify my eating. I recall being in South Dakota at minus 10 degrees Celsius. I was so deep in my disordered patterns that I couldn’t bear the idea of not burning off calories and would wear 2 pairs of pants, 2 hoodies, wrap a towel around my face and run the 2km radius around our hotel multiple times. I remained this way all throughout 2018, limiting my athletic performance due to my obsession.
In August 2019 I represented Australia in Spain at the Youth World Championships. In the lead up I trained harder and was more restrictive than I have ever been. I knew there were going to be cameras because of the scale of the event and I wanted to look like an elite athlete as I represented Australia. There was almost an obligation to look my best. I suffered extreme hunger the entire time, losing focus on my training in the lead up to the event. I remember landing, having the pictures all taken over a few days and saying, ‘Thank god, it’s all over’. Because of the restriction, I lost control once when I allowed myself to be less strict. I gained weight and felt uncomfortable in myself when I returned to Australia. What made this time different was a reflection on my performance in Spain and my previous years of damaging behaviour and I decided it wasn’t worth it.
Easier said than done, I started to learn how to eat properly and exercise for my strength and performance, not for cardio and calories. I learnt about nutrients - one of the most important things I’ve done as an athlete. I am now at a stage where I am out of the toxic environments I was once in, I understand the body, intuitive eating and most importantly, the relationship between how I treat my body and how I perform as an athlete. I recently won a World Cup in Recurve and I credit this to being fully focused on my training instead of attempting to ignore my extreme hunger and losing weight.
Archery for me happened alongside the disorder but wasn’t caused by the sport. Instead I personally think it did get me through it. I believe that if I had ever dropped archery, this disorder would have consumed me. If you’re a sportsperson and you want to drop weight, I can’t stress enough that cutting out food will never help your performance. Nutrition is the most important thing. If I could go back and tell myself not to jeopardise my health and performance for a lower weight on the scale, I would. I am glad I had this outlet to keep my mind occupied. When I felt low, I would shoot to try and distract myself. At tournaments I would see friends and fellow shooter’s and this really helped.
For now as I try for the 2024 Paris Olympics, I am focused on building my strength. Two months ago my partner went through Olympic trials for this year. I learnt just how important fitness is to holding a position on these teams. I want my body to be healthy, strong and nourished because of this goal and I understand that requires me to treat myself well and appreciate this body!
Having been diagnosed at age 5 with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, do you believe ADHD impacts your performance? Do you believe archery also impacts your ADHD?
I do and believe it happens in different ways. When I first started, I felt as if it helped my concentration. This encouraged me to transition off my medication at 16. While I still make silly mistakes, we call them ‘Maddy Moments’, like shooting the wrong target at the National Match Play Series in 2018 or forgetting important equipment at some events, I have continued to work on my focus through the sport. Coming up to the World Cup in Sydney 2019, I improved the ability to channel my focus more than ever, having been building these skills since age 16. I’m still off my medication and I believe it’s because I found something I cared so much about and wanted to dedicate myself to fully.
How influential to your development into womanhood has your career in a male-dominated sport been?
I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without the experience. It’s given me so much life experience. I developed coping skills and resilience, specific to the job I acquired through the industry. I learnt to channel my focus, understanding my ADHD so I can register moments where it affects me and then work to fix them. Archery has taken me all over the world and shown me so much in life.
Do you see more female involvement within Archery now than when you first started?
There seems to be a lot more involvement in the open division, however not as much involvement in the younger cubs and intermediate shooters. Unfortunately, those who start young often then become involved in other aspects of their life, part of the reason I don’t shoot with so many of the girls I started with. When I started, I often knew I would be rocking up to an event expecting to wine by default because there weren’t any other competitors. While I do believe it is getting better, it would be great to see even more female representation!
What would you say to women looking to join either archery or one of the many male-dominated sports?
Don’t be scared to get started. Archery, as a sport, I have found to be very equal. It would be great to have more women in the sport because we have just as much potential as the boys do and I back that 100%. Your goal doesn’t need to be the Olympics or representing Australia. You can just shoot for your club or yourself. I think this is how we should look at sports in general though. Do it for your own reasons! I will say though, if it is your dream to represent us nationally or abroad, there is always a group of people ready to help you along the way! People in the sport want to see you succeed!
Endnote: Maddy knew that her family would read this interview, with some of them not being aware of the severity of her experience with disordered eating. Regardless, she was adamant that this information be included in the hope that it would help readers who could resonate with any of her experiences, not just as an athlete. I commend Maddy on this bravery and hope it has the impact she wanted.