Not many high school athletic programs can boast of winning a state title just three years after it was started. Calvary Christian School did just that last school year when the school’s archery team brought home the GICAA State Championship trophy. Now in its fourth year, the Calvary Knights are seeing such an increase in interest for the archery program, the coach has had to hold try-outs to fill the slots on the team.
Archery is a sport that is growing in popularity in schools around the country. Locally, there are very few archery programs in schools, and most of those are in private schools. Neither the Alabama nor Georgia high school athletic associations list archery among their sanctioned sports, but private school athletic organizations such as the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association (GICAA) are beginning to add it as a sanctioned sport.
At Calvary, the program began in 2013 after the parent of a student inquired about starting a high school team. That request led to the development of a program under the guidelines of the National Archery in the Schools Program, which partners with state natural resources departments. Shondra Odom was named the archery coach for the Knights and continues as such today. Both a high school team and a middle school team were established at Calvary.
The Knights competed in NASP tournaments, which allow winners to advance to districts, then to regionals, on to state, and eventually to nationals. According to Odom, there is even a world NASP tournament. For their inaugural year, Calvary had 24 athletes on the high school archery team. Because NASP guidelines allow homeschooled students to participate on school teams, Calvary’s archery program has included homeschoolers among its team members since its inception.
Last year the GICAA added archery to its list of sanctioned winter sports. The Calvary Knights expanded their archery program to include not only a NASP team but also a GICAA team. The private Christian school association does not allow homeschooled participants on archery teams.
When the first GICAA state tournament for archery was held for the 2015-16 school year, eight private Christian high schools participated. Calvary Christian School’s archery team had the top score for the event, capturing the GICAA state title and going down in the record books as the first state champ in the sport for the association.
The Knights lost three graduating seniors from last year’s program. Try-outs were held in September for the Calvary team, which participates under the GICAA guidelines. Unlike some sports, the criteria for making the team was not based largely on skills or athletic ability.
“There are multiple things we look for and consider during the try-outs: grades, dedication, coachability, respect, team work, and, of course, technique,” said Odom, who is also the Executive Assistant to the school’s headmaster.
It can become a little confusing when discussing Calvary’s two high school teams and how each team competes. Basically, athletes are required to use an Original Genesis bow without sights and release. Tournaments are scored in increments of activity called Ends. Odom explains there are four Ends of five arrows each at 10 meters and four Ends of five arrows shot at 15 meters. Three scoring rounds produce the scores. Twenty-four team members compete, and the top 12 scores from the individual team members are combined to determine the team score.
Perhaps the most enthusiastic person about the Calvary program is the Knights archery coach. When the program began back in 2013, Odom already had bow experience and was the right person for the job. She believes the sport is important for athletic departments to include because it provides another avenue for students who might not otherwise participate in high school athletics.
“The thing I love so much about this sport is it is so diverse,” Odom said. “You can have very athletic students do well with it or those who have never competed in a sport. I think is it a great tool to bring together a group of students as a family. We have students on the team who probably never would have had an opportunity to know others on the team simply because they did not share the same interests until now.”
While several of the team’s athletes are bow hunters, most had never picked up a bow until they joined the archery team. The three seniors in the program, Ashley Snipes, Dalton Williams, and Steven Fowler, are among the highest scorers on the team. Snipes, 18, had no bow experience until two years ago. Fowler has been a member of the team for three years and started off with no experience either. Now in his fourth year, Williams is an avid bow hunter but had never competed in archery until Calvary started the program.
Although Fowler and Williams are also football athletes, Snipes doesn’t participate in other sports. All three are team captains and enjoy both the competition and the camaraderie of the team make-up.
Due to the growth of Calvary’s archery program, Odom is now assisted by three coaches, Christina Jones, Stephanie Litz, and Dan MacMinn. The school’s gymnasium is transformed for practice sessions, and Calvary hosts the NASP Regional Tournament each January.
Odom said almost anyone can find a place in archery competition. There are no defined athletic skills required; males and females can compete with equal success; and there isn’t a lot of training involved. Often students with learning disabilities and some with physical conditions that would preclude them from participating in traditional sports find archery to be a good fit.
“I would just love to be able to go out and help every school start a program like this,” Odom said with a smile. “It brings students together and helps many of them find a niche or a skill that they never thought they could do. One of the biggest shocks when a student first takes up archery is that they can hit the target. It is just something to watch them.”
Calvary’s coach also noted there are college scholarships available in archery at schools around the country.
Going forward, Odom is setting the goal to one day win the National Tournament. The Knights have been to the event in Louisville, Kentucky, but Odom feels her athletes need to continue to compete against the very best in order to perform at the highest level.
“Of course we hope to win the GICAA state championship again, but my dream, well, my dream would be for one of our teams to win at the national tournament,” Odom said. “I think it is possible.”
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Archery Program Hits Bullseye With State Championship
Written by Beth Welch
Photo by Jerry Christenson
