Joanna Suan acts as an example that it is never too late to return to a sport or hobby, after rediscovering her love for archery after a 23-year break.

Recently, she competed in archery at the IMGA Pan-American Games in Cleveland, where she found camaraderie, community, and renewed purpose in the sport.

We caught up with Joanna to talk about her journey back to archery, how sport has impacted her mental and physical well-being, and her excitement for the upcoming World Masters Games in Taipei.

Can you give us a little introduction about yourself and your favourite sport?

My name is Joanna Suan, and I’m from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, now living in Grimsby, Ontario. I discovered my love for archery at a summer ranch camp when I was 12, and soon became competitive at the national level.

I stepped away from the sport at 18 to focus on my education, but always felt something was missing from my life. During the Tokyo Olympics, I saw a familiar face from my youth in a TV commercial—an amazing woman who inspired me to pick up my bow again after 23 years.

You competed in Archery at the recent IMGA Pan-American Games in Cleveland – did you enjoy the competition?

Yes! I enjoyed shooting together with others in my age group – we could share trials and tribulations as we enjoyed the competition together. Camaraderie and community are so important to a healthy competitive environment. The sport of archery was grouped by age categories down the line and I was quite amused by the conversations being shared as I walked down the field. In our 40s we discussed how we were managing our failing eye sight and some aches and pains.

The 50-somethings compared different anti-inflammatory remedies. In the 60s, the focus shifted to retirement planning. And in the 70s+ group, there were jokes about whether heart medications counted as performance enhancers—after all, staying alive is a sporting advantage!

I loved this part.

What has been the key to sustaining your love of playing of sport until now?

Learning and refocusing on core values in life. I returned back to sports at a time I was experiencing a bit of a “low” in my professional career and life in general. We had also just begun to stir from the great humanity slump of the pandemic. Sports gave me structure and momentum to work on my health and wellness.

Sports also gave back in a way I had not anticipated. In order to excel in my sport, I had to also focus on my mental health and confront things I’ve not been aware of and things I had not wanted to deal with.

It’s helped me become a better person in general life.

Any career highlights/favourite moments/greatest achievement?

I held a number of national titles in my youth. Within my first year of returning to sport as a mature athlete, I had earned a silver medal at the Canadian Indoor Nationals. It was thrilling, shocking, and humbling at the same time. There was a misleading tease of my historical performance, it showed me what I was capable of, but it also brought me down to earth. I had a lot of work ahead of me to repeat that performance with consistency.

I couldn’t naively jump back into the results of my youth. My body has changed and I also needed to learn how to work with the rest and recovery it needed now. I’ve also had to learn to balance the demands of my career, my family and the demands of my sport. I’m not done yet; I’ve only just begun.

What is your advice to anyone considering pursuing masters sport?

Do it.

But do it for you – your pace, your time, your enjoyment.

What was your favourite part of attending the Pan-American Games in Cleveland?

In amateur sports, you become invisible after the age of 21. In your 40s, you feel lost. You are both too old and too young at the same time. In my sport, you are not a Masters athlete until the age of 50. The Games in Cleveland opened up an entire community where I could belong – I met others in my sport, in my age group, but I also met those much older than myself – and their thriving vibrance is inspiring.

I’ve since signed up for the World Masters Games in 2025 and I am so excited for it!

Sign up for the World Masters Games in Taipei & New Taipei City here.