Slovenian Toja Ellison: First a mother and then archery

Slovenian Toja Ellison: First a mother and then archery. Slovenian Toja Ellison pulled her back from competition this season. The reason was to focus on her son Ty from husband Brady. Despite that, she already made her mark in 2022.

Her 2022 success list includes:

· World records

· Personal bests

· Hyundai Archery World Cup silver- Mixed team 

· 2022 Indoor Archery World Series- Gold in Las Vegas 

The above is only a few of the success stories of this year.

Her qualities as a player made her, the 7th-best compound woman in the world. The numbers may surprise many. But the events split between the native nation Slovenia and the family home, in the USA.

The 2022 World Games turned out as an opportunity to compete on ‘home’ soil. The 29-year-old player was waiting for it.

Ellison said, “It feels like shooting at home, although I don’t shoot for the USA.” She is now in Avondale Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

“It’s getting harder and harder to be in Slovenia. I have a kid, and the travel itself is more difficult, but we try to make it work. Me, Ty, and Brady were in the whole of April and a little bit of May in Slovenia. It was more than a month.”

“Now I won’t be there anymore this year. But I try to combine it with tournaments and see my parents as much as possible.”

As a mother to Ty, she wanted her son to experience both her parent’s cultures and family life. This is the reason. She kept shooting competitively but with regularity.

She decided to divide time between family and archery. It reduced her appearances in 2022. It turned out as a new regime that she is adapting slowly. Her action bought a new meaning for all arrow shots.

“It’s hard, it’s not easy,” she said about the new regime. “There are days that he (Ty) needs me [and] I get to shoot as much I get to shoot.”

“There is one big difference [and something] I always tried to do, but now, when I have Ty, I do it better,” she clarified.

“When I step on the line, I try to do my very best with every arrow. I felt like I was doing that before but now I do that better. I know that I have 150 arrows and I need to do the best I can with 150 arrows. And there are days when I have time for [just] 30 arrows.”

“My priorities changed from archery defining me, even though it never did intentionally. When you spend so much time doing what you love, it gets more important than you want it to be. Now, the most important is Ty. He is the one that needs to be good.”

“Archery is still important, and when I get to do it, I do it the best I can.”

The best. Yes, it’s a phrase that fits perfectly when we talk about Ellison. She is busy with final preparations for the upcoming World Games.

Yes, she kicked off the archery competition. Despite less action, there are no significant changes at her end. Ellison follows the mantra that archers follow: 

· Focus

· Relax

· Shoot

· Repeat.

“I’m just going to go on the line, stay in my bubble and do the best I can,” Ellison said. 

“I’m shooting good, I’m ready, and I hope it will be shown.”

“If it won’t, I go home, and being a mother will define me. Not archery.”

The World Games competition begins coming Wednesday morning.