A crowd estimated at more than 2,000 witnessed hundreds of young people participating in archery competition in the Schlarman Academy Shoot-Out over the weekend. Mike Bryant is one of the coaches for Schlarman’s Archery Team. He says interest in the sport has exploded….
(Some of the participants check their targets during the Schlarman Academy Shoot-Out. Note: You can click on photos to enlarge them.)
{‘’We actually had to add 2 lines this year. We’ve got over 600 archers. We’ll see over 2,000 people through the door, and it’s just continuing to grow. It’s a great, great sport. It caters to every level of athlete and we just look for it to do nothing but grow,’’ said Bryant during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News.
Teams from as far away as Chicago participated in Saturday’s competition at Danville High School’s Field House. Bryant says the competition is held on several levels….
‘’We run everything from 4th grade through senior in high school,’’ said Bryant. ‘’So we have an elementary level – which is 4th and 5th. We have 6th, 7th, and 8th – which is a middle school. And then we have freshmen through senior – which is the high school level.’’
And what does Bryant think the kids get out of participating?
[Dozens of kids take aim during Saturday’s competition at Danville High School. Note: You can click on the photos to enlarge them.]
{‘’You don’t have to necessarily be a great athlete for this. If you look around here, you have kids of all walks of life,’’ said Bryant. ‘’It’s just not one particular group of kids – it’s a very diverse group – and they love it. It’s satisfying. It’s very disciplined. It’s light-hearted…it’s just what you don’t see a lot of times with some of your main stream sports,’’ added Bryant.}
Bryant is one of the technical coaches for Schlarman’s Archery program. ‘’It’s competitive in a sense,’’ says Bryant, ‘’but it’s every bit as satisfying. And every level of athlete can participate here – that’s what’s great about it.’’
?
