A warm welcome to Sam

We are delighted to welcome Napier University Student Sam Ahmed to the team. Sam will be undertaking an 80 hour placement with us as part of his studies, and will support us to across multiple areas to give him an oversight of the workings of a Scottish Governing Body.

I'm Sam, from the land of history and civilization, the Persian people, Iran. Archery has deep roots in our thousands of years of history, with many historical stories and heroes featured in our historical texts, such as Arash the Archer. According to these tales, around 3000 years ago, he stood on Mount Damavand, the highest peak in Iran, and shot an arrow made from the best wood and eagle feathers, which marked the borders of ancient Iran. Immediately after launching the arrow with all his might, he passed away. Among the many characters in Persian mythology, I have always been fascinated by the story of Arash the Archer.

Having a great interest in professional sports, I was active in gymnastics during my childhood and in martial arts recreationally during my adolescence. About 10 years ago, when I was 20 years old and studying engineering project management, I felt lost and aimless, exactly when I made a significant decision to start archery professionally, a sport I had been interested in since childhood. This decision completely changed my life's path. Given my talent in this sport, I quickly became one of the successful archers in my province and then in the country. About two years later, I was invited to my first training camp with Iran's national team.

During this time, I changed my field of study to sports sciences to gain a deeper understanding of sports. I graduated with honours in sports sciences, completed coaching courses, and won numerous medals in various competitions and my best personal qualifying score is 359 out of 360 and officially recorded score is 357. I also had the opportunity to compete in international tournaments and became a well-known sports figure in my city.

I met my wife, who was also a successful archer in the country, and we got married about two years ago. I owe these valuable experiences and joyful events to my endeavour and archery, which brought many successes and experiences into my life, and it gave my life aim and colour like a target face in archery, and also led me to meet my wife, who is my best friend and my love.

About two years ago, despite being in good athletic condition, I decided to temporarily step back from professional sports due to some issues and continue my master's degree abroad. I also aimed to find an opportunity to resume my activities in archery. After moving to the beautiful country of Scotland for my studies, fortunately, the Scottish Archery Federation provided me with this valuable opportunity to work with a professional team for my student placement course, benefit from their valuable experiences, interact with Scotland's archery environment, and I am deeply grateful for this opportunity. Thank you.