Archery is not all about Winning

Sport should be about participation and physical fitness, not solely about winning. Archery is a sport you can participate in for your entire life. One of the things my coach always told me was there is a real danger of achieving success too earlier in young archers. Young kids sometimes get use to winning, and they start to expect it. They never expect to have to work at it again to win and archery (and sport in general) loses more participants that way than any other.

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As a national level athlete, everyone expects me to win all the time. I sometimes want to yell out “It just doesn’t work that way”. There is very little difference between top level athletes and it is more than a game of inches. As you develop into one of those athletes that are lucky enough to gain sponsorship, there is even more pressure to win. This is why I believe some athletes turn to performance enhancing drugs or cheating.

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The movie “Cool Runnings” has an excellent scene where Derice Bannock ask Irv why he cheated…

Irv: It’s a fair question. It’s quite simple, really. I had to win. You see, Derice, I had made winning my whole life, and when you make winning your whole life, you have to keep on winning, no matter what. Understand?

Derice Bannock: No, I don’t understand. You won two gold medals. You had it all.

Irv: Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.

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Personally, it really troubles me to hear about athletes that use performance enhancing drugs or cheat, especially successful ones. They have made winning their whole life and they are not enough without it.

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As part of your New Year’s Resolution, why not make sure you are participating in Archery or any other sport for the right reasons. Whether your are participating for the competition, hunting, social aspect, physical fitness or just for pure fun, make sure you set your goals to participate whether you win or not.

Arrow – The TV Series

Have you watched the new series Arrow available on The CW in the US and CTV in Canada. The series is about a playboy millionaire ( played by Stephen Amell ) who was shipwrecked on an island for 5 years before returning home a changed man. Upon his return to civilization he plans to right the wrongs his father shared with him on the doomed voyage and becomes a hooded vigilante with a bow and arrow.

The series follows Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy of Starling City, who spends five years stranded on an island following a shipwreck that claims the life of everyone else on board, including his father, Robert Queen, and Sarah Lance, the sister of Oliver’s girlfriend. Upon his return to Starling City, he is reunited with his mother, Moira, and her new husband, Walter, the former CFO of his father’s company. He is also greeted by his younger sister, Thea, and his best friend, Tommy; Oliver tries to reconnect with ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance, but she blames him for her sister, Sarah’s, death. Oliver and Sarah were having an affair at the time of the accident.

During the day, Oliver plays the billionaire playboy; at night, he becomes a green-hooded vigilante, following through with his father’s dying wishes to right the wrongs of the Queen family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. Oliver’s vigilante persona becomes the focus of Detective Quentin Lance, father to Laurel and Sarah, who is determined to arrest him, unaware of his real identity. Oliver is also constantly flanked by a bodyguard, John Diggle, who suspects Oliver is hiding something under his playboy persona. Moira is also hiding some secrets, as she knows that the family yacht was actually sabotaged.  Wikipedia

The series is based on the fictional superhero Green Arrow created by DC Comics.

Green Arrow is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Morton Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Queen, and he is a billionaire who formerly served as the mayor of the fictional Star City. Dressed like Robin Hood, Green Arrow is an archer who invents trick arrows with various special functions, such as glue arrows, net, explosive, time bomb, grappling, fire extinguishing, flash and tear gas arrows, as well as cryonic arrows, and even a kryptonite arrow. Green Arrow was originally developed as an archery-themed analogue of the very popular Batman character, but the writers at DC have developed him into a voice of left-wing and progressive politics very much distinct in character from Batman, with his own supporting cast. Wikipedia

This series is another example of how Archery is gaining popularity. Check out the HD trailer on YouTube and be sure to program your PVR to watch an excellent series.

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games

On 24 September 2012, two flaming arrows were shot in unison and in synchrony with the music of the opening firework ceremony of Barcelona’s prestigious Mercè Piromusical 2012. This commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games.

Read all about here…

Awesome video of the ceremony, check it out.

Out of the Shadows

Yahoo has an article about Archery in the spotlight in time for the London 2012 Olympics thanks to the success of the “Hunger Games”.

Two-time Olympian Jennifer Nichols’ eyes light up with she talks about her sport finally climbing out of the shadows.

“The Hunger Games” has shined a bright light on the ancient sport of archery and fueled interest across the country in picking up a bow and arrow…

Read the entire Yahoo article here.

Marvel’s: The Avengers

Have you seen the new marvel superhero blockbuster movie, The Avengers? If not, put it on your agenda to see, the movie is awesome and totally lives up to the hype.

The Avengers movie is the continuation of the four other Marvel superhero movies including Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America. The plot centers around Earth being a threatened by another realm spearheaded by Thor’s revengeful brother Loki. Earth’s S.H.I.E.L.D.  (or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) recruit and assemble the world mightiest superheroes into a supreme team to battle the threat.  This is a classic Marvel comic book style through cross-pollinating multiple superhero paths into an extra special super series and contains the perfect amount of action, drama, and comedy. (That’s right comedy.)

Director Joss Whedon really brings together this collection of stars Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner / The Hulk ), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow), Jeremy Renner(Clint Barton / Hawkeye), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) into the ultimate superhero spectacular.

The popularity of this movie, which broke Hunger Games opening weekend record with over 200 million, will add another shot in the arm for the sport of archery. Although, actor Jeremy Renner who portrayed Hawkeye does not have the best archery form, the story line around him and his use of the bow and arrow to help save the world are another feather in the cap of archery.

If you have not seen The Avengers, make sure you see in 3D. Even if you have no knowledge of superheroes you will still enjoy this movie. I can not wait for the sequel.

Hunger Games great for Archery

Anytime a movie features an archer the archery business gets a good shot in the arm, however with the success of a blockbuster like The Hunger Games, and with less than 100 days until the Olympic Games, I believe it is a great time for archery coaches and businesses everywhere. Many businesses are already reporting increases in business since the movie opened. I personally have witnessed a significant jump in the interest in archery recently when I had 10 new people show up to join my school archery club at our last meeting.

The Hunger Games is about a game show where young people between 12-18 years old are pitted into a life-or-death situation. Twenty-four Tributes, as they are called in the game, one male and one female from each of the 12 districts in a post-apocalyptic future to fight each and the elements until there is a single victor. The movie is based on the first book on the young adult trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. With the popularity of the film, which has grossed over $350 million worldwide so far, Loinsgate has already announced it has plans for a sequel based on the second book “Catching Fire” and it will be directed by Francis Lawrence.

The movie centers on Katniss Everdeen, played by actress Jennifer Lawrence (no relationship to Francis), who uses her hunting archery skills to survive. Jennifer developed her archery skills in preparation for the role under her mentor Khatuna Lorig. Khatuna, originally from Georgia and a naturalized American, is a five-time Olympian and earned a bronze medal as part of the women’s team at the 1992 Olympics.  With the movie having a strong female heroine, I am sure the interest of young women all over the world will reach new heights.

If you have not had an opportunity to see the movie yet, I highly recommend it and afterwards contact you local archery club to try archery for yourself.