David Dalziel – Athlete
David Dalziel’s archery career started as a youngster at the lake with a bow his dad Don had made out of a willow branch, and twigs as arrows. In 2000, David hoisted a high-tech bow to his shoulder in a shoot out for a berth on the Canadian Summer Olympic team bound for Sydney, Australia. He fell short of earning the one and only archery spot on the Canadian team.
David established himself as a world class athlete at a young age, taking many steps through the local, provincial and national levels. David reached the pinnacle of his career serving as an alternate on the 2000 Canadian Olympic team.
As a teen, David dominated both indoor and outdoor championships in Saskatchewan and Canada. From 1994-98 David set 38 national records, seven of those at the National FITA and Field Championships as an underage archer in the junior category. Furthermore, he became the youngest archer in Canada to be selected to the National Excellence 1996 Gold Squad.
He also won the provincial indoor championship four times during this time, the Saskatchewan F I T A championship three times, the national F I T A championship twice, the National field championship three times and was a four-time national indoor archery winner. He also won gold at the 1997 Canada Games.
In addition, David established a first on the world stage for Canada. He is the only archer in Canada’s history of competing in the sport to be selected to represent Canada twice at Junior Worlds.
The most prestigious tournament David qualified for was the 1999 Pan Am Games. The Canadian archery team finished second and David was the top Canadian performer with a fourth-place overall finish.
David’s quest for a spot on Canada’s Olympic team started in 1999. In order to qualify he had to meet four qualifying scores. With his mom and dad fundraising at home flipping burgers at Canadian Tire, David made his third qualifying score in 2000 finishing second in Tulare, Colorado. He made his final qualifying score winning at Columbus, Ohio event later that year.
David continued to be a force on the Canadian and world archery scene after the Olympic trial loss. He was second at the Canadian National Outdoor FITA. As well, he won the 2001 Canadian National Competition in Winnipeg and the California Cup in Sacramento.
David’s excellence in the sport of archery earned him Prince Albert’s Athlete of the Year honour in 1998. In addition, he was honoured to light the flame at the 1999 Western Canada Games in Prince Albert.
David was also recognized as a quarter-finalist for the Youth Achievement Award of Canada in 1999 and was a finalist for the Saskatchewan Athlete of the Year in 2000.
David was forced to retire from archery at age 21after a car accident. He was returning from Alberta the day before the 2001 Canadian Target and Field Archery Championships in Delisle. He had a ruptured appendix which was not discovered until nine days later. It took months to recover physically from the near death accident.
David says he would not have achieved these goals without the help from his coaches and the “Bank of Dalziel”. His local coach Roger Boucher started him off, only to let provincial coach Archie Lovelance perfect David’s skill and mentor him as if he was his own son. Later, David went to live with the Olympic coach Joan McDonald in Toronto. Joan honed David’s skills to the elite national level. David thanks his coaches and Prince Albert for all their support in his quest.
The Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame proudly welcomes David Dalziel in the athlete category.
Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
