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........................... Nov. 30 - Jan. 06, 2001
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| Archery team gets ready to compete | |
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The Shoreline Community College archery team, one of the best in the nation, is optimistically preparing for the 2001-2002 season. The team will be competing in a winter indoor season and a spring outdoor season, during which they will travel to Utah and California.
"I have confidence in my team" said head coach Glen Harris. "This year we have a pretty strong men's recurve team, which we haven't had in the past" Harris also said.
The archery program at Shoreline began in the 1970s and was run by the 1980 U.S. Olympic Coach Dwight Nyquist. It faded away in the 80s and started up again in 1991 when Harris came to Shoreline. In 1996 an official archery club was formed at Shoreline.
After becoming the 1998 Community College National Champions, the archers petitioned student government to become a varsity team and succeeded in 2000.
"We're usually up there in the top ten, which is pretty remarkable considering we're such a small school," said Harris. He also pointed out, "The reason that we're successful is because right from the start it's about the student archers. We help them discover the confidence that is inherent in all of them."
Harris, who has been coaching archery for over 20 years, is also an U.S. National Coach. During his time at Shoreline, Harris has taken two years off to act as Head Coach for the U.S. Paralympic Archery Team, the Olympic equivalent for archers with disabilities, coaching the 1996 games in Atlanta and 2000 games in Sydney.
Harris' assistant coach and wife, Phyllis Harris, a.k.a. Mom Coach, is a many times Utah State Archery Champion and past National Field Archery Association National Indoor Champion.
"Most of the archers on the team come directly from the beginning archery class, although some archers come to Shoreline to be on the team. We graduate most of them to four year universities," Harris said, "Shoreline archers are very heavily recruited."
However, the team also has its problems. Many of which are the same as those of other sports, namely funding, academic eligibility, and training time. Harris noted, "The biggest issue most of the team members face is finding adequate personal archery tackle. It is expensive and individual specific."
"What is expected for the team is that each member give the best that they have, in class, in training, in competition, and most importantly to take a look inside themselves and find out what they are made of" said Harris.
"I've only been shooting competitively for two years" said Dave Anderson, an archer on the recurve team. "I originally started as a kid, for hunting. Then there was an archery club near my house when I was fifteen." Anderson said, "I really like the sport itself. I like the history. I like just about every aspect. I like hunting. But I really like the quiet. I like going off and doing my own thing, it's pretty nice."
Gabriel Wan, an archer on the compound team uses archery "for stress relief, and to help me with my concentration".
"I really just took the class because I needed a PE credit" said Juan Rodriguez-Poirier. "After about two weeks or so I saw the team shoot and I thought it would be kind of fun so I decided to join up." Rodriguez-Poirier went on to say, "I intend to carry it on through my life, whether competitive or non-competitive."
"Archery is a lifetime sport," Harris says, "Someday you're going to turn 40," he points out, "Archery is something you can do late in your life."
Over the years many friendships are formed on the archery team. "It becomes friends and family," said Harris, who keeps in contact with many former SCC archers.
Students can get involved with the archery team either by joining the class, which fills up fast, or by showing up at the archery room in the PE building Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. No experience is necessary and equipment is provided.
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| by Jonathan Heppner | |
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