Veteran Ontario Out of Doors bowhunting columnist and 15-time national archery champion Tim Watts will be inducted into the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame as an athlete this spring.
Watts, a national record holder and one of the few Canadian archers to have won the national title in all (indoor/outdoor target, field, and 3D) disciplines, has contended in more than 750 tournaments globally since he began competing at age 15.
Given the relatively few number of inductees each year, and the names on his year’s list, the Warsaw native was “completely honoured” by the news.
“I was quite emotional when I hung up the phone,” he said. "It will truly be an honour to be inducted as the Hall's first ever archer."
Watts has medalled nationally 29 times. He’s also won 98 provincial medals, including 42 gold. In 1999, Archery Ontario introduced the Ontario Grand Championship. Archers who compete in all five disciplines with the highest combined total score are named Grand Champion for that year — at title Watts has earned 21 times during the 26 years it has been contested.
As part of Team Ontario in 2010, Watts won the Canadian 3D Championships in Nova Scotia. He was then selected by Archery Canada to compete at the 2011 World 3D Championships held in Austria. Representing Canada, he won silver in the Men's Compound division, and to date is the only Canadian compound archer to win a World 3D Championship medal.
Watts' most memorable year was 2022 when he won the Canadian Championships in all four disciplines: Indoor, 3D, Field, and Target, as well as three golds and two silvers in provincial championship events.
Currently, he holds five provincial records, one for indoor target archery, two for field archery and two for outdoor target archery. Watts, who is affiliated with Peterborough Fish and Game Club, holds two Canadian records: one for outdoor target archery and another for field archery.
Watts was Tournament director for Archery Ontario from 1990-2023. He also worked for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) as the Ontario coordinator for the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) from 2014 to 2025. The program introduces archery as part of the phys-ed curriculum to thousands of students across Ontario and beyond every year.
At the same time, Watts has written for OOD, sharing his bowhunting expertise with readers via regular columns and short features. Editors at the magazine also regularly draw upon his wealth of archery knowledge for archery-related content. Watts is among six inductees for 2026. He'll be joined by Allan Crowe, John Grant Jr., Terry Paul, Kelleigh Traynor-Hartnett, and Jeff Twohey.
The induction ceremony takes place Saturday, June 6 at 7 p.m. at the Hall of Fame in the Peterborough Memorial Centre at 151 Lansdowne St. W. Tickets, which will go on sale in mid-April, can be purchased by calling the hall at 705-743-6897, emailing info@pdshof.com or visiting the hall.
Visit https://pdshof.com/ for more information.
