For any athlete consistently performing at your maximum is a feat that takes even the very best years to master. For Katie MacFarlane her rise from novice to the podium has taken just two years.
Only taking up the sport of archery in 2024, 44-year-old Katie has quickly become comfortable in the business end of tournaments across the UK.
Katie has won Scottish Unclassified Disabled Women’s gold at the Scottish Indoor Archery Championships and Women’s Unclassified Disabled gold at Archery GB’s Disability Championships. Although, one of Katie’s most impressive performances came in Orkney last summer at the Island Games.
She said: “I did my first Island Games when I had been shooting for 18 months or so and I came away with silver in mixed pairs with Billy Finnie.
“If you had told me two years ago that I was representing the island at anything I wouldn’t have believed you, especially if you would have said you’re going to be representing them in a sport. But it’s an amazing feeling, it’s an achievement.”
Katie is among the latest cohort of athletes to receive support from sportscotland’s Athlete Travel Award Scheme (ATAS). Travel and accommodation costs can disadvantage island-based athletes and mean they may be less likely to compete in certain competitions which would help their journey as an athlete, ATAS funding helps redress that without the athletes having to relocate from their communities.
ATAS is funded by sportscotland and the local councils of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and Highland. Successful athletes can benefit from up to £1,500 from the programme to help with travel and accommodation costs when attending training and competitions.
Navigating sport with multiple disabilities can be hard. Katie lives with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, fibromyalgia, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she says the inclusive nature of archery is one of the things that drew her to the sport. She said: “Archery is one of the most inclusive and accessible sports there is.”
Throughout her time participating in the sport, Katie has noticed it provide important benefits, such as strengthening her upper body and core. For Katie, none have been more impactful than the psychological benefits that she has found from archery, she commented:
“Being neuro diverse, the repetition helps keep me calm, it is fantastic for my mental health. I have changed a lot since I’ve started with archery, I’m really settled.”
It took some good fortune and an openness to trying something new for Katie to be introduced to archery “The Tall Ships came up to Shetland, and I volunteered for the first aid crew, and as a reward they did a ‘have a go’ day with archery.” Katie explained.
Katie may not have considered herself to be an instant natural, though she quickly developed a deep enjoyment for the sport, she said: “I was extremely bad at it, but I loved it, and as soon as the next beginners course came up six months later I signed up for It, and I’ve not stopped since.”
Living in Shetland, the costs of travelling to competitions on the mainland quickly stack up, this is where Katie believes ATAS will support her to gain access to more opportunities, she said: “A single competition is a minimum of £500.”
“Everything helps, basically it will allow me to do another two competitions in the year, rather than just doing four or five.”
Following the success of her 2025 season, Katie is looking forward to kicking off her 2026 run of events, looking to continue her rich vein of form. With several big tournaments on the horizon, Katie has more targets to aim for, whilst building up to the 2027 Island Games in the Faroe Islands, she commented: “I would like to get an individual medal at an Island Games, other than that I would like to continue shooting, and to continue going to competitions, every time I go, I catch up with someone I know, and meet someone new.”
