New Zealand's top archer Stephen Florence trains at his home in Auckland. 30 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs
New Zealand's top archer Stephen Florence trains at his home in Auckland. 30 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs
You could be forgiven for thinking that archer Stephen Florence's Olympic high performance centre is a kitchen, lounge and backyard.
Because it is.
By day, the 31-year-old king of Kiwi archery is a CNC machinist for Buckley Systems, the remarkable Auckland high-tech company founded by Bill Buckley.
By afternoon, Florenceis a low tech Olympic aspirant at his rented Pakuranga home.
Practice starts by sliding open the ranch sliders to the rear of his house, and Florence then stands by his kitchen bench, firing through the lounge at six targets clustered 18-metres away amongst shrubbery on his back fence.
"If I could shoot 70 metres every day it would be a game changer for me," says Florence, referring to the distance Olympic recurve archers shoot over.
But travelling to one of the three archery ranges in Auckland takes up too much time, particularly during winter when the evening light is short.
And the backyard routine is paying dividends, with Florence recording brilliant international results this year as he seeks to overcome the Covid-19 hurdles and prove to the Olympic selectors he is Tokyo Games quality.
Those Games - if they go ahead next year - will be full of highly funded, professional stars.
Florence is definitely at the other end of this scale.
"You can't get much more basic than I am," he says of his Olympic campaign.
He represents Olympic sport the way it used to be, and some would say the way it was meant to be.
There was even a time when his former coach made Florence's bow, although major manufacturer Win & Win now backs him.
New Zealand's top archer Stephen Florence trains at his home in Auckland. 30 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs
Florence, who threw everything at trying to make the London Olympics eight years ago, has never received a cent of Government money, and nor does he want any. If he makes next year's Games, it will be his first ever "free trip".
"I've never received any high performance money - it probably costs me about $7000 per trip overseas, and I've probably spent $50,000 to $60,000 on travel over the years," he says.
"And if I'd been able to use that to buy a house 10 years ago…
"But I stress, I'm not after money. I don't think anyone else should pay for my hobbies."
This might be the loner in Stephen Florence speaking given the way he describes his childhood.
Once Florence had got junior football out of the system, the Glen Eden teen – and his dad John - somehow discovered archery. And boy did it stick with a youngster who struggled to belong.
When asked what his childhood mates thought of his unusual sporting passion, Florence says: "I had a lot of anxiety.
"I didn't make friends - it was easier to stand in a field and just shoot my bow.
"I was a loner…when you live at home until the age of 24 and shoot arrows every day, I think loner is a good description."
New Zealand's top archer Stephen Florence trains at his home in Auckland. 30 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs
But combined with what others describe as a freakish natural ability, all that practice took Florence to the top of his sport.
He's had a few setbacks though.
In 2010, Florence was measured for a Commonwealth Games uniform he never got to wear. Two years later, he was overlooked for the London Games.
Maybe his archery bosses didn't push his case enough. Maybe the Olympic selectors were too tough.
"I felt let down…it was crushing," he says.
But Florence's default position is to finds fault within, saying there is nothing which cannot be solved by him shooting better, winning more.
The disappointments cut deep however and he eventually took a break from archery, only returning two years ago, but with no Olympic aspirations.
"Everything had fallen to bits - there was a relationship break up, I was looking for something to give me a sense of self-worth again…that I could be useful, even just coaching" he says.
"And when you have put so much time into something and stop, you feel like it was all wasted."
But a strange thing happened. With the pressure off, he began to shoot extremely well hitting a personal best after just six months.
He was still the ambivalent Olympic prospect though, particularly as he was busy trying to sell a gymnasium business at the time of some key archery dates last year.
With London 2012 lingering in the memory, and New Zealand not having had an Olympic archer since 2004, he thought efforts to qualify Kiwis for Tokyo were a waste of time. He thought wrong.
New Zealand archery cleverly targeted the mixed team – a new Olympic category – as a qualification window. And the Aussies opened that window a little further, with their very best men skipping the qualification tournament in Samoa last year because it was so close to the pre-Olympic event in Tokyo.
New Zealand's top archer Stephen Florence trains at his home in Auckland. 30 October 2020 New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs
Southland's Adam Kaluzny and South Canterbury's Olivia Hodgson did the rest, winning the Samoa shoot out to give New Zealand two Olympic quota spots.
The archers must still prove they are up to Olympic standard, so the race among New Zealand's best is on.
This means it is game on again for Florence who would love to emulate Simon Fairweather, the Australian whose 2000 Sydney Olympic triumph put archery on the map across the ditch.
But qualification has just got trickier again, with two World Cup events and the Oceania championships cancelled because of the pandemic.
He's hoping that earlier efforts will count, although not overly confident that they will.
Florence had a brilliant start to the year, placing fourth a high class tournament at America's national training centre in California where he shot a fabulous score of 660. On the way home, he won bronze at the top quality Australian championships in Adelaide, recording another great score.
"It feels like the dominoes are falling into place, but Covid has confused things and I have no idea what I need to do anymore (to qualify)," he says.
"There might be events in Europe but that will be expensive, and there are still travel restrictions.
"But these days I'm motivated by wanting to shoot well, rather than just aiming for the Olympics.
"My favourite pursuit is actually rock climbing, outdoor and indoor. I'll climb anything. I like pushing myself. It can be pretty scary.
"I want to see how well I can shoot with a full time job and a life. I want to push others, for them to see me as the person to beat.
"I want to be one of the legends who is still around the clubs helping people when I'm 60, still competing if my body can take it. I know some guys like that…they are my sporting heroes."
Archery helped a loner kid to socialise. It also helped him overcome a fear of competing, although these days it comes with some provisos.
"Even now I wonder if I really want to put myself through this (selection) crap again. I still have massive trust issues," he says, recalling the 2012 Olympic heartache.
"But to win the Olympics…shocks do happen in archery. It's not like weightlifting, where someone needs to lift 100kg above their personal best to win.
