In April, the Lowndes 4-H archery team won the State Title at Camp Rock Eagle, just north of Eatonton. This was the teams 4th title. The state title was the culmination not just of a season’s worth of work but several years of practice, hard work, and attention to detail. Archery has a long tradition in the world of sports. Its history in the Summer Olympics dates back to 1900 and hundreds of countries throughout the world have recognized federations. Archery competitions are growing in popularity and many communities in South Georgia have teams through the local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Office. Of those 4-H programs that offer archery, the Lowndes team is the best in the state. Don Faircloth, an assistant coach with the Lowndes program, took a few minutes to explain the sport and talk about the team’s state championship.
When does the archery season begin? Head coach Jim Barker likes to start early. We start practicing in October and we shoot two times a week. The first tournament is an indoor tournament in February. After that, there are three regional qualifiers then the state championship at Rock Eagle. There are no qualifying criteria for the state tournament. We average around 54 shooters in the program across the Cloverleaf, Junior, and Senior divisions. In the Senior division, there are 15 to 20 shooters. We take the highest average score from the regional qualifiers and group those with similar scores into four-person teams. Those teams then compete at state. It’s more than just the score, though. Attendance and leadership are also factored in. You have to be one of the best shooters, but you also have to be responsible and be a leader.
So a county can send more than one team to state. Yes. We sent multiple senior teams to state and took first and third. Also, shooters compete individually. Our shooters also placed first (Ben Bradford), second, fifth, and sixth individually. Dalton Faircloth, Levi Farmer, Ben Bradford, Brandon Barker are the four who made up the state championship winning team. All have been shooting since fifth grade, except for Levi, who just started shooting last year.
What is the format of the state tournament? There are three different shooting disciplines: FITA, which is the international format. It’s the discipline featured in the Olympics. There are also Field and 3-D disciplines. In FITA tournaments, archers shoot from 30, 40, and 50 meters. They shoot 72 arrows for 10 points each. So a perfect score is 720 points. The Field and 3-D rounds consist of 30 separate targets.
What came after state? The national tournament in Grand Island, Nebraska. We were one of 32 states and approximately 128 shooters represented at the tournament. We finished in third place as a team. Dalton Faircloth was our highest individual shooter; he came in 10th and Brandon Barker finished 11th. That gave us two shooters in the top 15.
What kind of equipment do the kids shoot? Do they provide their own or does the program provide the bows? The kids furnish their own equipment and use compound bows. Their bows are professional quality. The make and model is up to them. There are a lot of different manufacturers out there. It just depends on their preference.
To what do you contribute to the success of the team? A lot of hard work. The kids put in a lot of time and pay close attention to detail. Many kids shoot at practice and then go home and shoot for hour’s fine tuning their shot sequence and shrinking their shot group’s size. We also have quality coaches who really know what they’re doing. We have 12 active certified coaches that help the shooters at every level.
What kind of certifications do the coaches hold? To get certified, prospective coaches attend a two-day training at Rock Eagle through 4-H. It’s a very thorough program that covers a lot of material in a short period of time. The head coach is Jim Barker, Brandon’s father. He and I took the kids to nationals this summer along with 2 parents.
What does it take to be a good archer? It takes good hand-eye coordination and a lot of mental fortitude. You’ve got to develop a certain amount of strength as well but being the strongest or having the best hand-eye coordination doesn’t always mean you’re the best. You’re aiming at a circle about 2 to 2 ½ inches at 50 meters. To place that arrow in that X, it takes an enormous amount of mental concentration. You’ve got to block out everything going on around you. Shot sequence is vital. If you start thinking about what’s going on around you, you’re not thinking about your shot. Being able to block out the distractions and focus on each individual shot is vital to success in archery.
What are future opportunities for shooters who would like to continue in the sport after high school? There are scholarship opportunities for college in FITA. There are also other independent competitions in Field and 3-D. Dalton and the other boys shoot competitively in various tournaments. For example, Dalton recently competed in the 3-D World Championships in Phenix City, Alabama. He finished tied for second in the world. Levi Farmer also shot at that tournament in a different class and finished fifteenth. Several of our shooters also compete in tournaments outside 4-H.
Tell us about the support the team has received from the community. Community support has been tremendous. It takes a lot of money to do what we do and we’ve got to have help from parents, businesses, individuals, and organizations throughout Lowndes County. We have travel expenses and food for the tournaments. The jerseys we wear in tournaments are paid for by sponsorships sold on the jerseys. The community has been great about providing us with what we need. We also have several fund-raisers throughout the year and people have been very generous. This is a great program that teaches our youth important lessons beyond archery. Without the support of the community, this program wouldn’t be possible. We are very appreciative of all the assistance we’ve received.
10 Questions/South Georgia/October 2015
Lowndes 4-H Archery
Valdosta, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
