Alberta teen with limited vision among all-star Canadians heading to international archery competition

CTV National News: Teen archer turning heads Bill Fortier has the story of a legally blind Alberta teen archer headed to South Africa to compete for Canada.

An Alberta teenager will join some of the country's best archers at an international competition in South Africa this summer — but it's not just her skills on the range that are making an impression.

"Being legally blind, it was something I struggled with from an early age is fitting in," 18-year-old Anna Kim told CTV News Edmonton.

Despite having no vision in her left eye and limited vision in her right, Kim has excelled in the sport of archery.

Shooting for a year-and-a-half, it has been enough to earn her a place on an all-star Canadian team that will head to South Africa in July, where she will compete against other teenagers with regular vision.

"So I see it as an honour and all I can say is it's amazing and I'm terrified," she said.

The dream began for her at age nine when she attended a specialized bible camp for people who are visually impaired.

"They looked at us, said, 'Let's give a bunch of projectiles to those who are visually impaired and see where it goes,''" Kim said.

But hitting that target for the first time was the moment she fell in love with the sport, she said.

Kim wouldn't do archery for a number of years after that but decided to pick it up again during the COVID-19 pandemic and later found out that her high school had a team.

"She's confident. She knows what she's doing. I know she's going to do not just us proud but she'll do Canada proud," her mother, Sandra, said.

Kim's coach helps by watching her arrow and showing where it landed. From there, she can adjust her form and improve her aim.

"She knows by her body position and reflection when she shoots each arrow where her body position has to be to shoot the next arrow," archery coach Kelly Kijewski said.

Although she worries about being treated differently, Kim says everyone in the sport has been welcoming and inclusive.

"I never thought that blind camp at the age of nine and shooting a bow and arrow would lead me to here with my amazing coaches and the opportunity to fly across the world to compete on the world stage. I have no words," she said.