Springfield schools' archery program gives all students chance to compete

Almost a hundred Springfield Public Schools students lined up on a marked spot at the Ozark Empire Fair Grounds Central Building. Each held a bow in hand, rested on the tip of their shoe. Their arrows stood in neat bunches beside them.

The whistle blew — "shoot" rang out over the speakers — and the young archers notched their arrows and took aim. Like rain drops, arrows hit the targets all at once.

Similar scenes unfold at any given SPS archery tournament, which typically run from 9 a.m. until the evening, with students shuffling in and out to allow everyone involved to participate. At the end of each round, or flight, applause rings out for all the archers, despite the lack of a scoreboard or clear "winner." While the program was first offered more than a decade ago, it has brought in more students than ever in recent years, totaling about a thousand archers district-wide.

The program has outgrown three venues and doubled the number of targets available for archers at one time. Susan Provance, co-coordinator for the program, attributes this growth to a variety of reasons but the one that stands out is the sport's accessibility and ability to accommodate each student's needs.

"So many challenges can still be accommodated within archery," she said. "Archery grows because there's really not too many challenges for success."

'Everybody shoots' in adaptive sport

As archers from Hickory Hills Middle School lined up 10 meters from their targets with bows in hand, seventh grader Toby Hopkins readied to shoot his first-ever target at the state-qualifying tournament. When the whistle blew and archers took aim, Toby's process of shooting differed from most.

Using a tab on the string of the bow, Toby, who has limited mobility on the right side of his body, pulled back his arrow with his mouth before it flew through the air to pierce the target.

It's Toby's first year in archery, and his grandparents and mom Katie Hopkins looked on eagerly, still trying to figure out how the rules and scoring work.

"I was so excited, because I was trying to help him find something extracurricular and this was the first thing he's really shown a lot of interest in and found a lot of success in," Katie Hopkins said.

Without any history of archery in the family, Katie Hopkins was surprised when Toby came home one day and said he would be a part of the program. Before she could arrange for accommodations, the school had already worked out the mouth tab, partnering with J.P. Sell, president and director of Diversified Freedom for Disabilities, a nonprofit out of Rogersville focused on making outdoor recreational sports accessible for those with disabilities.

Sell was beside Toby at Wednesday's tournament, ready to notch his arrows after each shot. Sell said before archery, they had created a fishing reel for Toby to use as part of the outdoor curriculum.

"A lot of persons with disabilities never thought competing was ever an option," he said. "Children are amazing, and if we can continue on getting them to believe in themselves then life will be good."

At first, Toby was nervous competing in his first sports tournament representing his school, but he said he became more relaxed as he concentrated on shooting. After his flight of the tournament concluded, Toby said he was not too worried about knowing how he did, he had fun participating.

"Most of the [other sports] involve two hands so because I have a disability I can only use one," he said.

He said he will definitely continue with archery next year, but will see how things go when he goes on to high school. Katie Hopkins said the family plans to create an archery range in the backyard for Toby to practice in and foster his love for the sport.

"I think it's something he could really grow in," she said. "A lot of the other sports, it's not that they wouldn't adapt if he needed them to, but they're just not built in the same way to be as adaptive as archery is."

Lack of tryouts gives more kids opportunity to try something new

With more than 50 targets set up in the Central Building, the row of archers illustrated the sport's mass appeal. Students of all heights, builds, athletic abilities and economic backgrounds shot alongside each other, scoring one another's arrows.

"Archery is so inclusive on a number of levels," Katie Hopkins said. "A lot of these kids aren't typical athletes, you know they're not kids that have been playing basketball all their lives, but this really gives them a place to belong and get to know each other."

All students shoot with the same equipment provided by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) and transportation is provided by the school. There is a participation fee of $25 per student, unless students have already paid it as part of another sport or are on free and reduced lunch. Provance said the ease of access to the sport for all students is another contributor to the program's wide success.

"You're better because you worked at it," she said. "You're better because you were a better learner in the fundamentals of the sport."

The competitions for archery take place during the second semester, once first semester grades are in and archers have attended their practices. Grades and attendance are perhaps the only factors taken into account when determining who can participate. For Toby, Katie Hopkins said it has been a motivating factor in staying academically engaged.

Amy Haggard said her daughter Gracie Haggard of Hickory Hills has been more in tune with her attendance in order to be able to participate, worrying about missing school.

The sport also does not have tryouts. All SPS high schools, middle schools as well as WOLF and Wilson's Creek Intermediate School participate in the program. Archery is part of the physical education curriculum at these schools where students can opt to go to additional practices and compete.

"There's no tryouts; if you want to join, you join," Amy Haggard said. "It's not based on any skill or physical attributes, it's all about just wanting to try it."

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Amy Haggard shared an encouraging smile with her daughter as Gracie walked backed from the target after scoring her arrows. The eighth grader donned her purple and white hair bow — a part of her cheerleading uniform — as she pulled back her arrows.

With the commitments that cheerleading already required, Amy said she was grateful for how complimentary archery could be with other sports. Gracie shot together with the sixth graders instead of her fellow eighth graders to be able to leave early to go cheer.

Practices for archery are shorter, more concentrated efforts. Competition in archery versus in cheer is different, too, but Amy Haggard said that's a good thing.

"That's why I love that she is doing both, it just makes her very well rounded," she said, adding that archery has helped Gracie come out of her shell.

Archery a different type of competition

Oliver Payne, freshman at Glendale High School, prefers the relaxed nature of archery to the more tense atmosphere associated with a lot of other sports. For them, the act of shooting is tied to their breathing, which helps them focus.

"When I'm recoiling the bow, I breathe in, and then as I'm shooting, I slowly breathe out," Payne said. "It gets me into like a breathing motion and doing that I can control where my arrow goes."

Similar to how there is no scoreboard at the tournaments, there is also no clock that runs down. Each archer shoots their arrows on their own time, and there are no consequences for taking your time.

Archery and holding a bow is not new to Payne whose grandparents owned bows and gifted them their own. When the chance to be officially involved in archery for the school became an option, they did not hesitate to sign up back in middle school.

Their favorite part is the time they get with the team. While practices start at 6:30 a.m. twice a week, they said its a moment to get better while building friendships.

Students aim to compete for bigger titles, scholarships

At the tournaments, two students from separate schools share a target and simultaneously shoot. When all the arrows have been shot, students score each other's arrows. Provance said she has witnessed many students encourage each other and view the competition more as a way to make each other better than a way to defeat someone.

"Shoot the best you've ever shot. I'm going to shoot the best I've ever shot, and we're both going to be happy," she said.

Payne shared this sentiment, noting that while sometimes another person doing really well can be intimidating, it is all about bettering your own practice.

"I try to learn stuff by watching other people and how they shoot, so I can get better myself," they said.

Danny Hilton watched his daughter, Kinsley Hilton, shoot among an audience of other parents, grandparents and siblings. He said the pair have been shooting recreationally at home. The sixth grader from Pershing K-8 School has been busy with the start of her middle school career, trying out both archery and wrestling.

"This year being sixth grade, it's the first time for a lot of things," he said. "I'm just proud of her, and I encourage her to keep trying."

With middle school year's worth of experience already in their back pocket, Payne's sights are set on state, but they also hope to apply for scholarships that the sport can offer moving onto college.

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SPS has a good chance of advancing to the state tournament that will take place on March 20-23 in Branson. Archers compete both in teams and individually with their best scores used to rank against others. So far, Cherokee Middle School and Hilcrest High School teams have qualified for state. The district covers their registration fees both at the local tournaments as well as the state.

At the state championship, teams and individuals compete to advance to the national competition, though SPS does not send middle schoolers to nationals. With the rapid growth the program has undergone, triumph grows alongside it.

"The longer that we're in the program, the more successful we're in the program, the more competitive we're in the program, the better we get," Provance said.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Public Schools archery program targets student growth