It is a huge honour to be nominated for Best Sports Blog of the Year for 2013 by the Canadian Blog Awards. If you enjoy my blog please visit the voting site and cast your vote for me. Also I would appreciate you telling your friends. Voting closes on February 22nd.
It is an honour to share my experiences with everyone and I hope to continue to write from many years to come to help grow archery throughout the world.
On Thursday, I finished the first chapter of my life by graduating from Kingston Vocational & Collegiate Institute. My graduating class was about 300 kids, with more 80% graduating with honors (academic 80% average) and Ontario scholars of which I was one. I remember walking across the stage, my brothers and sister cheering, apparently my mother cried, my father could not stop taking photos they was so proud and happy.
Besides being an Ontario scholar, I was also the recipient of couple of awards and scholarships. With the first award, my name with forever by etched on the walls of K.C.V.I. as it in engraved on a plague.
The Adrien Langlois Award (Physical Education)
Awarded to a graduating student who has completed a minimum of three physical education credits including PSE4U (Sport Science). The student is considered the best overall physical education student as determined by the Healthy Active living department
The Sandy Prentice Memorial Scholarship
The scholarship is designed to recognize the efforts and accomplishments of a graduating K.C.V.I. student with an identified communication disability. The student must have demonstrated outstanding and persistent effort in overcoming the challenges of their learning difficulty such as reading, writing, organization or social skills. The student must also demonstrate a high degree of academic competence, the ability to self advocate and self regulate, and some level of contribution to the school community in the area of sports, clubs, or student leadership.
Graduating from high school was an extremely important moment for me, since at five years old, my parents were told I would never learn to read or write so not to bother to try and teach me. I have dyslexia, severe auditory processing communication disorder to be more exact, so much so that when officially tested, I scored in 1st percentile.
There is often a misconception about dyslexia, most people think of people reversing letters or numbers; however dyslexia is about learning differently, and auditory processing disorder is a broad umbrella for people who have difficultly either understanding or expressing ideas or information either verbally or written. For an overview about various types of auditory processing disorder check out the Wikipedia article.
This is the first time I have publicly acknowledged my learning challenge. Mainly because I never ever wanted anyone to treat me differently or for one minute think that I could not do something. Personally, I think it is a learning GIFT, since I just learn differently and the list of famous people with dyslexia is very extensive including Muhammad Ali, Cher, Robin Williams, Albert Einstein and many more.
Although, I had been accepted at Dalhousie and Acadia, I will be attending Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario this fall studying Kinesiology, with goals of becoming a physiotherapist and a national level archery coach. To all who read this, do not let anyone else dictate your path in life. You can achieve anything you want to, it just takes a little hard work.
Since I believe athletics are important in developing a healthy lifestyle and personal self esteem, the KCVI archery club is special to me. While I am fairly athletic, when I joined KCVI’s Athletic Association, I noticed a lack of sports open to all even for non-typical athletes; something where you can participate at your own level and feel confident and accepted. As a NCCP certified archery coach, range safety officer and national level archer, I knew I could start a program that would inspire anyone to come out, get active, and engage in sport. So in 2011, I proposed the idea of starting an after-school Archery Club to our Principal for the next year.
In the fall of 2011, with the assistance of my younger sister Sydney, we started with four students meeting every second week for 1.5 hours. I coached the group of members, focusing on safety, technique and encouraging them to have fun and enjoy it. They enjoyed it so much they started to recruit others. By the end of the first semester, we had tripled our membership.
This year, with the absence of sport due to the teacher work to rule strike, I was able to convince my mother to act as the supervising adult and our principal as the supervising teacher. There was so much buzz, kids with talking about archery club in the halls, our membership increased to over 50 students. We have decided to meet every Friday after-school for 2 hours to accommodate the influx of participation.
Last Friday, we hosted the year-end celebration for 2013 KCVI Archery Club. We had a potluck, cake, shot balloons and this year we also decided to hand out a couple of awards. Although, I am very proud of all the members, they have become the athletes they were really meant to be since they were all dedicated, enthusiastic and all improved so much, these individuals rose to the top…
Most Dedicated – Joesph D
Awarded to the archer who shows the most dedication to the club, sport, and it’s members. Not only did they always attend on-time, they were also supportive and respectful to the members, the club, the equipment, the sport, and stepped up to help when it was needed most.
Most Improved – Haiyi Z
Awarded to the archer that not only improved in skills in the sport of archery but also in self growth. To improve means to be better than you were before even if it is hard or not what you would normally do, to challenge yourself to be a better person.
Most Enthusiastic – Anajalika R
Awarded to the archer that is the most enthusiastic, who also perseveres and continues to look on the bright side. This athlete should always look for something to be happy about and keep trying and help others when they are going through a hard time.
Most Sportsmanlike – Athena K
Awarded to the athlete who showed the most sportsman like traits. This athlete does not get upset when they lose, or gloat when they win, or are not mean to other athletes. Instead they show true character by being humble in winning and gracious in losing.
Last Friday also concluded the last year I will lead the club as I am graduating and off to Redeemer University in September. It has been a very gratifying experience starting and running the archery club over the last couple of years. I have learned a lot about coaching, organizing and leading an archery club. My hope is my younger sister Sydney will continue to lead the club during for her grade 12 year and others will step-up so the club will continue for years to come.
Thanks to everyone who helped organize, run, step-up, tear-down, watch-over and participate over the last two years. Happy Shooting!!
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.
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?
There is often a misconception that archery is very dangerous. Although a bow and arrow can be a lethal weapon, archery is actually one of the safest sports because there is a culture of safety. Statistically, archery is one of the safest recreational sports there is with only 0.65 injuries per 1000 participants as outlined in the USA National Electronic Injury Surveillance System and represents the hospitals which actually record the information. Check out the Archery Safety report from Arizona State and Fish Department from 2004.
This is largely because of the culture of safety that encompasses the sport. All coaches start by instructing their students with the fundamentals of archery safety. I remember my first lesson was about safety first. Nowadays, I regularly shoot through my house for practice and we never worry about danger because of the culture of safety within my house. Everyone follows the basic archery safety rules. For archers there are two basic areas of safety that you should maintain, personal safety including equipment and field or range safety.
Personal Safety
Good Rule of Thumb: If in doubt, stop and get it checked it out.
Field and Range Safety
Individual ranges may have additional rules specific to their courses, all ranges will adhere to the basic archery range safety rules. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional archer, if we all continue to practice the culture of archery safety we can enjoy the sport for many years to come.
As many of you are aware I also have a Tumblr blog, this is to help publicize my WordPress blog and help reach more beginner archers. When I asked for questions here on my WordPress blog one of my Tumblr followers, tuchesuavae, asked the following…
I was wondering, what exercises do you do? What is your regiment with band work? Weight, tension, supply details, repetition, how long do you hold, how often, etc.
I initially responded …
I have a 6 day-a-week training schedule including weight training, shooting, walking, aerobic and Pilates. My training schedule varies depending on the time of year.
Sometimes I use a rowing machine or weights however I no longer add weight. Do not want to add mass; just lean strong muscles. I use bands for warm-up EVERY time I shoot. I shoot about 150-200 arrows a day.
However I thought I would answer the question in more detail and discuss the importance of training at your level. A training plan for any athlete is developed in conjunction with the athlete, their short and long-term goals and their current physical abilities and limitations. Before developing a training plan, you need to ask yourself, “What do I want out of archery?”, since the answer will dictate how you proceed.
Personally, until 2010 I practiced with a training plan fit for an intermediate level archer. In 2010, prior to the 2011 Canada Games, I met with my coach and expressed my desire to go to the games and compete. She developed a plan that increased the number of arrows progressively, weight training without mass gain and developed a higher level of core muscles. Although at the time, it seemed like a lot, my coach explained that if that was my goal that is what it would take to get there, and she was right.
Every level of competitive sports has a new level of commitment. Sometimes you need to make sacrifices to achieve your goals. If you are planning on practicing only in classes and expecting to be a world champion, you are sorely mistaken. For two straight years, I had a limited social life outside of the sport and the friends I had there.
My basic schedule included, taking into account time for studying, tournament schedules and travel.
My six-day a week plan was tailored specifically for me and became more involved and more difficult as the shooting season progressed. It was made this way because I wanted it to be and therefore I stuck to the plan and attained my goals. Remember my plan will probably not work for you, mainly because my strengths, limitations, and goals differ.
If you are ready to take it to the next level in archery or any sport, seek out a trained and qualified coach. Work together with your coach to understand where you want to go and together develop a plan on how to get you there.
Thanks to everyone voting for me, I am a finalist for Best Sports Blog of the Year for 2012 by the Canadian Blog Awards. I finished 2nd in the first round and managed to get approximately 19% of the votes. The final round is between the top four most popular blogs. My hope is that everyone will continue to support me in the final round.
If you enjoy my blog please visit the voting site and cast your vote. Also I would appreciate you telling your friends. Polls closes on December 1st.
Recently, several of my readers posted questions about various aspects of the sport of archery. I really enjoyed answering each of these questions and I hope that if anyone has any more questions about archery, they will post them for me to answer.
There are two components in every competitive sport, the physical and the mental game. Often in sports we develop our physical ability long before we develop our mental game. Remember, my ascension to the world competition level was extremely fast, one year I was completely unknown in Canada, a dark horse. Then just 18 months later I had already won a Canada Games medal and was on my way to represent Canada at the World Indoor Championships; Real fast! Charles Lopez asked…
Perhaps you’ve covered this already and I’ve missed it but I wondered if you could expand on what you do on the mental side of things while you compete?
This is the toughest question I have been asked, since I still struggle with it and one of my training goals for this year is to work on my mental game. Archery is a lot like golf, you are not competing with anyone but yourself. So a good mental game is vital since it is slow paced and you have a lot of time to assess your shot, your environment and perhaps over analyse things. This means to perform your best, you need to have your thoughts under control.
Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Boy: Then you’ll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
– Spoon boy from The Matrix
Basically, whether or not there is a spoon is irrelevant, what matters is the belief. Any negative thoughts you tell yourself, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. How well you play the mental game is going to have a significant effect on how well you score on a given day.
I remember the world indoor championships like it was yesterday. At the start, I was enjoying everything and shooting well. Then came the introductions, they were announcing former world champions, Olympians, and current champions. Then out of the blue, they introduced Jordan Sequillion as one of the representatives from Canada. At just 17, I was one of the youngest athletes there but the pride of my entire country filled me giving me the chills, goose-bumps and made me extremely nervous.
I remember trying to focus on shooting, I wanted to make every shot perfect, and I needed to shoot the best I ever had. My country was counting on me! I was so nervous that I was shaking; not the best for archery.At the end of the competition, after being eliminated, I just broke down and started crying. I felt as if I let the entire country down. Coaches from other countries came over to comfort me, they had witnessed my shooting in the warm-ups. They simply said, you belong here you just need to work on keeping your emotions in check. That helped comfort me a lot, it really helped me for the team rounds too.
Afterwards, my parents ask me the question, “Why do you shoot?” Seems like an easy question to answer. I shoot because I love it. So then they asked the question. “So what changes between shooting in warm-ups and in competition?” Hmmmm….makes you wonder. They insisted that only my perspective changed, not the target.
If archer shoots just for fun he has all his skill.
If he shoots for score his hands tremble and his breath is uneasy.
If he shoots for a golden price he becomes mad and blind.
His skill was not lessened, but the vision of the target changed him.
– Old Chinese Proverb
So to answer… “What you do on the mental side of things while you compete?”
I am working on it, shooting because I want to shoot, not because I need a higher score than before. Not focusing on any past mistakes and not worrying about where I am; just remembering that I love the sport. I shoot one arrow at a time and if I am the best that day I will win and if I do not win there will be many more opportunities in the years to come, because I love to shoot.
I do not know if this answered your question or not, however I did the best I could.
I am very pleased to announce that my blog “Jordan Sequillion – My Quest for Archery Gold” has been awarded the Sports Blog Award (SBA) Best New Sports Blog for September 2012.
I know there are lots of great sport blogs and I really want to thank all the judges who reviewed the site and found it worthy of winning.
Canada’s wait for it’s first Olympic medal will unfortunately be extended four more years. Both Crispin Duenas of Ontario and Marie-Pier Beaudet of Quebec were eliminated in their opening match in London.
Crispin Duenas : http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=402049
Marie-Pier Beaudet : http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=401855
Nonetheless, I am very proud of them. While watching these games, I can empathize with the pressure that they are experiencing. After participating in the World Championship in Las Vegas this past winter, I have a new appreciation of the pressure that is cast-upon athletes at these competitions.
At large competitions like the Olympics and World Championships they try to make archery more viewer friendly for the spectators through the addition of commentators. This can be very nerve racking for the archers as they announce each shot and various competitors’ scores, sometimes right at the very moment of your release. In my team bronze medal match, the commentators were already declaring victory for the other team before we had finished shooting. It is almost impossible to block it out, at this level it is about who can manage their nerves and the pressure since they are all excellent shooters.
I have also read comments of news stories, blogs and twitter asking “Why is archery an Olympic sport?”. For those people, I challenge you to pull 50 pounds, hold for 7 seconds with enough calm composure to hit an apple 70 meters away, adjusting on the fly for all the elements. Now repeat 72 times, consistently. It takes strength, endurance, and composure, just like any other sport.
All of these archers are amazing athletes and deserve to represent their respective countries at these games. For Canada, eighth and twenty-ninth in the world are awesome!
Congratulations, Team Canada on a job well done.
Jordan Sequillion 