POP! My first arrow pierced the 10. I fired off the next 4 shots racking up a 50, the highest possible score. I knew at the point I knew I had a shot at being one of the best archers in the country.

I had to wait 3 long days but, in the end, I became the 5th best male in high school archery in the entire country. 

When I first got into archery, I never thought I would come this far but I always knew I wanted to be the best. When I first started, I wasn’t even close. Barely making the team in 5th grade, I spent my first tournaments barely shooting in the top 200 of small tournaments. At the time, I was not very passionate about archery, so I didn’t put in the time needed to be the best.

Then COVID-19 hit and it changed me drastically. I went from trying to fit in and having a few friends to no friends, no hanging out and complete isolation. I was stopped dead in my tracks. I liked doing archery, it wasn’t my first idea of fun. My hobbies were video games, building tree forts and then hunting. It was through hunting I discovered my passion for archery.

During hunter’s safety class, there was a section about archery. When I started hunting, I loved it, but there was one problem: I was only good at hunting during gun season, and it was only 1 week. Because gun season is so short I decided to bow hunt. I sucked at it. Then I worked on improving my skills through archery.

I knew I was decent, but I was still un-remarkable. Then I remembered a Bible verse my dad had told me, “Whatever you find your hands to do, do it with all your might” from Ecclesiastes 9:10. I knew if I worked harder I could do better. The first thing I did was find an old beat-up archery target. I practiced until my mom yelled at me for missing the target and breaking something. I practiced all summer long.

Finally, it paid off at the start of 6th grade. I wasn’t the worst on the team, and I started placing in tournaments. Soon I was Top 50, then top 20, and finally top 10. I did fairly well at states and nationals, which carried me all the way to the archery world tournament. I knew I had it in me. All I needed was to keep going.

In 7th grade I ended up placing 11th in the state of Ohio. I was in church when my coach came up to me and told me, “You’ll be on top soon enough.” I was only in 7th grade, and I didn’t understand. So, I nodded my head and said thanks, but didn’t think much of it. 

When I got into 8th grade, I hit my best season yet. I was always placing top 10 from pre-season or “Fun shoots” all the way through at every single tournament. All I needed was a little more of a push. 

Then out of the blue, a few months after the season started, my coach, who had been helping me with my relationship with God and my bow, retired. I started skipping practices because they were not fun anymore. Until, finally, I remembered how good I was, and how much joy archery had brought me. The thought of my old coach finding out that I was skipping practices frightened me. 

I got back to work and that year I finally did it. I was a champion at the state level, placing 5th out of all middle school boys in Ohio. I also finally placed top 200 in the national tournament. Boosting my confidence, I was almost where I wanted to be.

When the next season came around, I knew that despite my summer practice, but still was only good, not great. When we hit the start of the season, I wasn’t focused on archery – I was focused on high school and not failing French class and Algebra 1. I almost forgot about archery entirely until the “Fun Shoots” and season tournaments came around again. 

Halfway through the season, I only decided to focus on archery, focusing on technique and release of the arrow. I made it to states this year despite barely making an appearance at any tournament – only attending 2 “Fun Shoots” and 2 season tournaments, I was a ghost on the map. It felt like high school was draining me. 

Then at states I remembered why I liked archery and how it made me feel. And I smiled and had a good time while I was shooting. I didn’t even think about how much pressure was on me, I just knew that I needed to do well. So that’s what I did. 

After every arrow I smiled and looked back at my mom and thought about how happy my coaches and family would be if I won. I looked at my final score and realized it was the best I had ever shot. I shot 290! I qualified for nationals with ease, and I placed 4th in the entire state of Ohio! I realized that I had practiced enough and put in the effort, and I decided to lock in. 

I spent hours training, getting stronger in the gym to be steadier, shooting my bow until my fingers turned purple, attending Headspace (a program for athletes focused on mental health). I knew I had it. Before nationals, I’d show up every morning at 6:30 practice and smile, telling my coach, “What up? It’s your favorite.”

On the day of nationals, I only missed 4 arrows, landing a score of 295/300, I knew I was one of the best. 

When I finished the tournament and went home, I checked the results every 45 minutes to see if anyone would shoot better than me, I was on the top until the last day when four kids ended up shooting better than me. With three more years to go however, I know that one day I will be in 1st.  

While being champion is hard, you’re not going to just show up and do it. It will take hours, weeks, months and years of hard, dedicated work to hit your maximum potential, whether it’s archery or it’s another amazing sport. Hard work, dedication, and effort will always pull you through.