Battle Sports Archery Tag and Indoor Archery Range

Back in July Battle Sports in North York opened an indoor archery range / archery tag arena. On the weekends it mostly functions as an archery tag arena, but on Sunday mornings and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights it functions as an indoor archery range for people who just want to practice shooting.

This is a BIG DEAL because it means Battle Sports is the first open to the public archery range in Toronto that charges a fee ($15 if you have your own equipment, $25 if you want to rent equipment).

So if you are new to archery and just want to try it, $25.

If you are an old pro but want the comfort of an indoor range when it is raining or cold outside and you have your own equipment, $15.

Battle Sports also sells equipment, so if you don't have any of your own but are looking to buy you can get some cheap deals by purchasing via them. (They buy all their equipment in bulk, so it ends up being cheaper that way.)

Battle Sports also offers a more unique archery tag experience, including plastic throwing axes and ninja stars in the mix. They also have more obstacles for people to hide behind, which are movable so teams can fortify their position as they see fit.

Price wise Battle Sports offers very competitive prices compared to other archery tag locations - $19.99 with the discount code "VIP", so with HST the total is $22.59. Compare that to other archery tag locations that are charging $24.80 or $24.99 and the total with tax is either $28.02 to $28.24.

Below is a selection of photographs from Battle Sports' archery tag facility. For more info or to book an archery tag event visit BattleSports.ca.

If you have not tried archery tag yet, then you should definitely try it. It is truly addictive.

Battle Sports also offers group archery lessons, for up to 20 people at once.

Move over Backyard Axe Throwing Leage (BATL), Battle Sports has people throwing axes at people. Thankfully they are just plastic.

Notes

There are other locations in Toronto / GTA that also offer archery tag, but they are comparatively less quality. Battle Sports is the best location from what we have determined.

"Archery Tag" the trademarked franchise company is apparently going to be shutting down several locations as well because of violations of their contract. Battle Sports however is independently operated and not part of the franchise, and thus will not be effected by any shut down of competitors. According to rumour "Archery District" is going to be one of the first place to be shut down, which is funny because they were also the first archery tag location in the GTA.

Archery Niagara is looking for a Few Good Archers

Archery Niagara is looking for a few good archers - and it doesn't matter whether you are an old pro or a complete beginner. If you live in the Niagara region and are into archery please join by visiting http://www.meetup.com/Archery-Niagara/

Hang out with your fellow archers, bowhunters, bowyers and toxophilites in the Niagara region of Ontario.

Toronto Archer SPLITS a String with an Arrow

Local Toronto archer Charles Moffat's shot that split in string in two, and snagged a bullseye.

If you've seen Charles Moffat shoot then you know the local archery instructor doesn't always take his own skills seriously. He has a very relaxed way of shooting and spends a lot of his time shooting at moving targets, shooting at multiple different distances, and challenging himself to hit tiny moving objects.

Like the photo below of him hitting the centre of a plastic bottle cap dangling from a string.

Moffat's practice of performing trick shots has him doing shots while standing on one foot, kneeling, sitting down, shooting at moving objects, shooting at TINY moving objects, shooting while he is walking, shooting at different distances/angles and so forth. The archer admits he needs more challenges, but apparently he has not interest in competing.

"Competitions are all about egos," says Moffat. "I have no interest in competing. My goals are all about perfecting my skills regardless of what I am doing or what style of bow I am using."

To his credit Moffat shoots almost every style of archery you can imagine, except Olympic. Why is that?

"I got lessons in Olympic archery when I was living in South Korea, but I found it be quite boring," says Moffat.

For those of you who don't know, South Korea leads the world in Olympic archery. According to Moffat he was more interested in learning traditional Korean archery using a hwarang bow, which he has used several times in the past.

Shooting at a stationary target 70 meters away does seem pretty boring when you compare it to Charles Moffat's practice of shooting moving targets - like the moving rabbit target below from a cold and windy Easter Sunday.

Moffat's skills at archery have also been featured in a variety of television clips ranging from the CBC, CityTV, The Sports Network (TSN) and doing a series of trick shots for Rice Krispies. In 2015 Moffat was named "Athlete of the Week" by CityTV for his outstanding contributions to Toronto's archery community.

On the teaching side Moffat has also taught various television / theatre actors, and while his day job is that of a personal trainer he admits teaching archery is something he enjoys a lot more.

"If someone had told me ten years ago I would be teaching archery I would have laughed at them. At the time archery was just a hobby for me," says Moffat.

However according to Moffat's students his skill at archery is equally matched with his skill at teaching archery. He is the most sought after archery instructor in the GTA and booking archery lessons with him has been to be done months in advance. See archery lessons in Toronto on Moffat's personal training website CardioTrek.ca if you want to book lessons with him.

Currently Moffat is reportedly working on his second book about archery (his first book on the subject of archery is a book of zen poetry on the topic of zen archery - called "Dreaming of Zen Archery"). Moffat does most of his writing during the off-season for archery, but you can usually spot him at the Toronto Archery Range as he is also a fan of practicing during the winter.

Charles Moffat crouching beside rabbit tracks.

Archery Tag Videos from Battle Sports

Archery Tag videos from Battle Sports in North York. Learn more about archery tag locations in Toronto by visiting ArcheryToronto.ca.