Back to Basics

It's funny how when you run into issues, it's usually because you need to stop and reevaluate what you are forgetting to do that used to be rote.

  Sometimes I need to be reminded to relax, not just on the line, but across the board in life.  I’m on the deck with my laptop and icy iced tea focused on doing as little as humanly possibly on this fine, fine day. Laundry is circulating so I don’t feel too guilty. At least it can be hung up in the breeze.   Mani/pedi and lunch with my gf earlier where my feet and calves were pounded into submission and doughy softness by a small Asian man with a disco t-shirt. And drove the hubs' new car around looking and feeling like the old hotty I am. At least guys notice the car ;-) I had to sign a waiver that I would not eat, drink, pick up men, puke, or park closer to anything than 20 yards. Jesus. 

Signed up for a Level 3 coaches certification in the fall. Kinda wishing it was sooner, and will see an old roommate that I haven’t seen in 10+ years, as I’ll be in her hometown. Her kids shoot at the club where we’ll be and I think their coach is the one who is teaching the class. (Archery is a very small world) John Stover has a great reputation as a coach and also as a judge and parent to a high-performance athlete, so am looking forward to what he has to say.  Have no idear what I’ll be doing with said information, so maybe will put it to good use in the winter season. Usually when I get a wild hair and sign up for things magic happens, so I'm just rolling with it for now. So unlike me, I know. =D

Been teaching more than shooting, which is fine with me. I have been enjoying that more and more. Had a chance to teach a few recurve girls at Taz Archery, near Chicago a few weeks ago and had a great time with them. So fun to be able to walk in and have kids excited to shoot with you. The owner, Tim Zimmerman, is a great guy and super knowledgable about all things with strings. If you are in the mid-West, I encourage you to check them out, you'll be glad you did. If you see a cute blonde teaching that looks like a tall, skinny me, that's my sis. Say "hi" from me. I don't see her enough.

Speaking of sisters, mine has been working her hiney off with Tim to get Archery Events up and running. This well thought out site does some amazing things if you run a club, have events, classes, tournaments and the lot. Best of all - it's FREE. Yes, I said free. Host your club page there, sign up your JOAD kids and have them pay online. Seriously, it works and it's easy to do. Please mention Bow Meets Girl if you contact them, so they know I sent you.

Have a great week, ya'll!

xoxo

A

Archery has become the hip new thing

Those of us that have been doing this for awhile are nodding sagely with a hint of “I told you so.”  Girls that shoot are now definitely regarded as cooler by the boys, especially in high-school, where coolness can be tough to come by. Between the Hunger Games, the Avengers movie and the upcoming summer release of Brave, kids and adults alike are getting more than usual exposure to archery this year.  And don’t forget the London summer Olympics, which is right around the corner.

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Wired magazine’s GeekDad author Jim MacQuarrie coaches JOAD kids along with his wife Terri, and has helped the sport gain exposure through a non-sport avenue by bringing his experience to bear in tongue-in-cheek fashion on how it’s done (or not) in the movies recently. Because of Wired, Jim has probably introduced archery to more hipsters in NYC and Chicago than anyone else, so there are more skinny-jean and fedora types out on the range with the camo’d club these days.  In the Pasadena area the interest shift has been a little older than expected.  Jim and Terri have noticed that, “After Hunger Games, the single largest increase at our range has been women age 25-35, which more than doubled.” They expect they will get more boys after Avengers, and a wave of 6-12 year old girls after Brave.

My new friend Sydney is 15 and is also a dancer.  This girl also loves to shoot targets with her dad and siblings on their property for fun.  Sydney is also looking at getting her small-game license to have even more fun this summer.  Bit by the bug just before the movie rush hit, she’s shot some 3-D this winter as well.
Local shops from Pasadena, California to Fox Valley, Wisconsin are seeing a boost in kids wearing mockingjay necklaces leading their parents in to look at bows.  Both shops where Matt and I shoot have definitely seen growth in league signups, classes and just general interest. Camps that offer archery are expected to get more kids in the door this summer.

Clubs are getting more calls, too.  Doug and Sue Ludwig, coaches for the Points to the Cross club, run one of the upstate NY JOAD programs that introduces kids to Olympic-style archery. Doug is also one of the coaches for the Olympic Dream Team, which is bringing up the talent for the limited spots that will go to London. PTTC has received more interest recently, but they aren’t sure if it’s from the movie buzz or from the upcoming Olympics.


Teresa Iaconi, PR consultant for USA Archery and certified coach, has a similar perspective. “Clubs in general are reporting big increases in beginners wanting to learn how to shoot, and the biggest thing USA Archery is in need of right now are instructors, and people who are willing to start Junior Olympic Archery Development (youth) clubs in their community.”

Just to give you an idea of how much interest has grown this year, www.usarchery.org  quoted 30,585 unique visitors in March 2012, versus 19,206 in March 2011.

It’s an Olympic year. I know this because the P&G tear-jerker commercials with the gymnast mom are already running and my friend Dan is shooting full-time just in case this is THE year.  According to US Archery, the U.S. “currently has the number one world-ranked athletes and teams in six of eight categories, including superstar Brady Ellison, increasing the country's hopes for a gold medal performance in London and making the sport more popular than ever.”  World Archery recently nominated the USA as the “top archery country since 2008”. Until then, Korea had been the perceived power house team to beat in the past along with India and Italy. Lee Ford-Faherty, US Archery Para-Olympic Team member, has definitely noticed a jump in interest in her club from high-schoolers all the way up to middle-aged women where she trains.  Watch for Lee this summer as she competes in London with the USA team.

Fads happen in every sport. Daniel Grundman, owner of Flex-Fletch Products Inc., attests to the fact as their clear fletching is selling like hotcakes due to the Hunger Games using it in the star’s set up.  All teenage girls know that if you look like Katniss, you will shoot like her as well. Amen and pass the fletch glue. I suppose training with Khatuna Lorig wouldn’t hurt either. Lorig has been a great ambassador to the sport at the Olympic level and the Katniss Everdeen character showed correct form throughout the movie due to her excellent coaching.

It’s not just the clubs that are seeing more popularity. Archery themed anything has become easier to find and more mainstream.  Etsy and Pinterest are seeing a burst of handmade quivers, archery themed home décor, and archery related jewelry now being sold online. Those of us who already decorate with our extra arrows and gear laying around the house now look like we know what we were doing the entire time.  Score. 

  
Of course, I am truly excited that my sport is getting so much attention right now.  Any sport that welcomes and is accessible to so many age groups gets a solid thumbs up.  It’s a sport that kids who may not be quick with a bat or big enough for football can excel in.  It’s a sport where a 30-something woman (or man) can figure out well enough to fill the freezer or hit some foam in the middle. It’s satisfying, relaxing, social and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why more people don’t love it with or without the movies.

*** Since this was written, I've continued to receive more feedback from all over on this subject. It really has become a world-wide growth phenomenon. Folks from California to the UK are continuing to tell me that they are doubling or tripling their student numbers. Woot!

See this article and more in the Summer Issue of Bow Adventures.