When the burgeoning Horsham Company of Archers held a demonstration at Taylors Lake football club in 1954, one year after the company had formed, Matuschka got his first taste.

“I went down there with my brother and we were quickly hooked,” he said. “I was just fascinated.”

He was a 17-year-old at the time and Kevin Geyer quickly took him and brother, Errol, under his wing.

“Kevin was a foundation member of the club when it started in 1953 and he taught us everything he knew,” Matuschka said. 

“He was a two-time national champion and he’d set us a challenge every night. He ended up telling us all of his secrets.”

In 1961 he and Errol drove across the Nullarbor Plain to take part in the first ever national titles to be hosted in Perth. 

By the end of the the tournament he was able to call himself a national champion.

“It was really quite exciting,” he said. “It was the first time the titles had been on that side of the country.

“I thought I’d shoot reasonably well but I never really expected I’d come home with the title.”

He was ranked in the top five Victorian archers for a decade and won his last of five state championships in 1977 – the same year he won the Amateur Sports Club of Victoria’s sportsman of the year award.

In February of 1985, around five years after he had stopped competing a the top level due to increasing work commitments, he organised the first ever pro-am indoor championships in Australia.

The tournament attracted 200 amateur archers from across Australia and they were joined by six professionals from the United States of America.

Matuschka said he was a long-time subscriber to American archery magazines and that the idea for the tournament had grown from there.

“Over there they had indoor archery in winter when they couldn’t shoot outdoors,” he said.

The tournament hosted at the Horsham Indoor Sports Stadium – now the home of Horsham Lanes and Games – was televised by the ABC.

He said his ability to organise the tournament had stemmed from his experience as a field organiser at world championship as well as helping at the Horsham club’s the annual tournament.

“We were all required to buckle up in order to do the best we could to run a good tournament because we only had a small membership base,” he said.

In June, the 81-year-old Matuschka was presented with a Historical Achievement medal. The medal is considered to be the highest honour that can be given out by the Australian Archery Museum.

He was also presented with the Perce Stokan medal for service to archery.

“We went up to the museum in Bathurst and it was a presentation I really didn’t expect,” he said.

“I just couldn't believe it – as far as I’m concerned it tops everything else I’ve done in the sport.”

Long-time friend Hans Wright was also awarded a Historical Achievement award on the same night. 

Matuschka spoke glowingly about Wright who he considered amongst the best people he had met through the sport.

“He went to the World Championships under his own steam in 1965,” he said. 

“He was the national champion on a couple of occasions and travelled to Sweden before winning the American titles on his way home.

“He really was a very good archer.”

The changes in equipment have helped the standards in shooting go up across the board but Matuschka said shooting was always still a challenge.

“There has been a tremendous change in the equipment that gets used,” Matuschka said.

“We’ve gone from something very primitive to something very sophisticated. There is carbon fibre arrows and that sort of thing now whereas when I started it was all wooden bows.”

Over the years the he has passed on a lot of his knowledge to other archers at the Horsham club, including his wife Lyn and their children.

Lyn won a state championship title in 1981 while his son, Bryan, won the under-19 national championships two years later.

His daughter, Tania, won numerous under-15 titles while also under his tutelage.

Matuschka said the secret to becoming a good archer was dedication.

“It is always about practice, practice, practice,” he said. 

“The physical requirements pretty high – especially when we were shooting with the old equipment. 

“Kevin Geyer was a baker which kept him very fit and strong through the arms whereas the farmwork kept me and Errol in good shape.”

He said a hefty mental demand came alongside the physical demands.

“I think the mental side of it is the thing that break the most people,” he said. “The practice that you put in helps ensure you are ready to go in the bigger moments. I spent countless hours practising because then it became second nature in competitions.”

Kevin and Lyn are still heavily involved in the Horsham Company of Archers. Kevin was made the club’s first life member on his 70th birthday in 2007.

The company shoots indoors at Longerenong College every Wednesday from 7pm with archers of any level invited to take part. Anyone interested in taking part can contact Lyn on 5382 1133.

Matuschka said it doesn’t take him long to teach new archers the ropes.