Athlete. Coach. Official. Organizer. Administrator. Helena Myllyniemi has done it all and done it very well.
Helena began her archery career in her native Finland in 1960. After starting a family and, in 1964, moving to Canada, Helena returned to Archery in 1976 with the Victoria Bowmen. For over 45 years, Helena has fostered interest in and love for Archery as a National Team Coach and national, provincial and local administrator. She remains active in the sport to this day.
Helena has had a distinguished coaching career, having coached master, senior, junior and Invictus athletes to a multitude of medals at the local, provincial, national and international levels. An NCCP Level III Coach and Coaching Course Conductor, she joined the first national coaching staff in 1985 and has coached at many National Championships, Team Trials and Team Training Camps. She has also conducted coaching clinics across Canada.
For many years, Helena coached the Victoria Bowmen’s Junior Olympic Program. She has coached two Olympians, countless BC and Canadian Champions, and more recently, two Invictus Games Gold medallists. Helena has coached athletes at two World Field Championships (Ladies Gold in 1984 and Ladies Silver in 1986) and, in 1987, took the national team to the Pan American Games where they won Men’s individual Bronze and Men’s team Bronze.
As an athlete herself, Helena has won medals in many Canadian, BC and Club Championships, the most recent being a Silver at the 2022 55+ Games in Victoria.
Helena is involved in all aspects of the sport she loves. She served as Secretary of BC Archery from 1979 to 1980 and has been Treasurer of the Victoria Bowmen for 43 years. She is a National Judge who has judged many years at the provincial and national levels. She has served as Manager of the BC Team at the Canada Games and Canadian Team at World Championships. She was Assistant Director of Shooting for the World Target Championships and has served on the organizing committees for multiple National and BC Championships.
Helena excels at introducing the sport to new archers. For 13 years, she taught the Archery Program at the University of Victoria, upgrading the program to Coach Level I certification. For the past 30 years, she has also instructed archers aged eight to 80+ years at Saanich Commonwealth Place.
Recognized with the 3M Coaching Recognition Award (1990), the Federation of Canadian Archers Volunteer of the Year Award (1994), the Sport BC President’s Award (2020), and Victoria Bowmen life membership, Helena was the first-ever inductee into the BC Archery Hall of Fame in 2022.