Mehar Kaur, an archer from Brandon, didn’t expect to be here this week. Despite this, she rose to the challenge.

“Honestly, one of the people at Jo-Brook in Brandon, came up to me, and they told me that I was playing for Winnipeg Gold. Now I’m here.”

Not only was it a surprise for her to be competing here, but this category also was not what she commonly trained in. 

“I shot compound for two months, and just a week ago, when I was in Brandon, I learned that I was doing barebow, so I shot for just a week on barebow.”

Even the most practiced athlete would be thrown off by this, but you wouldn’t know—talking with Mehar—that this was anything out of the norm.

Archery was a route to self-confidence for Mehar, she continued despite it not being a fit for her brother. 

“Me and my brother originally tried, and my brother was way too tall, his wingspan was way to long, for me it kind of settled, so I figured I could stay until I feel a little bit more confident in myself.”

At the opening ceremony, a local Bhangra group performed. They had originally formed specifically for this event, but will continue to perform for various events around town. Mehar saw this performance and was overjoyed at the unexpected representation of her culture.

“No I wasn’t [expecting to see something like that here]. It really made me feel like, ‘wow people actually know that there’s a thing called Bhangra in India’ and some Sikh people were dancing and I felt kind of… amazed.”

“I started [in Bhangra] a very long time ago, when I was two years old or even younger than that. I’ve done it many times before in front of a whole big crowd. I have a bunch of experience with dancing.”

Compared to her sport, she commented on how Bhangra is very different, 

“When you have more people, you feel more supported, so if you make a mistake its ok, but when you’re there alone, it’s like all the pressure is on you.”

She was amazed with the performers, and we were amazed by her performance!