From July 28 to August 2, the Archers Association of Slovenia hosted the second leg of the 2025 European Youth Cup.
The final number of participants reached 386 archers from 37 different countries, making it the largest youth event (either cup or championships) in World Archery Europe history. Including 109 sports officials, technical officials, and work crew, over 500 people were involved in the event.
The competition was held in Čatež, a frequent host of international target archery events, thanks to its convenient accommodation and transportation options. Just the weekend before the Youth Cup, Čatež also hosted a joint Slovenian National Target Championship and Central European Cup event, with many delegations participating in both competitions.
The weather proved to be unusually unpredictable for midsummer, ranging from heavy rain at the start of the week to high temperatures and potential storms later on. Despite these conditions, the young archers displayed great resilience, performing at their best in a competition that many saw as vital preparation for the upcoming World Youth Championships in Winnipeg, Canada, from August 17 to 24.
Following the awarding of medals for Čatež 2025, the overall European Youth Cup medals were also presented. The rankings were based on combined qualification scores from 1st leg in Sofia and 2nd leg in Čatež. For the first time, barebow archery was included in the European Youth Cup. This debut was limited to U21 men and women, but the Youth Committee expressed hope to see even more young barebow archers participating in target archery in the future. It was particularly exciting to see them experience alternate shooting in the finals for the first time.
In the overall medal standings, archers competing under the AIN designation ranked first, followed by Great Britain and Sweden. Italy, which secured the second-highest total number of medals after AIN, was also honored with a special award for Coaching Team of the Year.
Next year, the European Youth Cup will begin with the first leg in Sofia, Bulgaria, and conclude with the championships and second leg in Arnhem, Netherlands.