I was trying to come up with a clever little title for this story when all of a sudden, one of my girl's favorite songs popped into my head. Done deal. Not gonna over think this one. The song is actually "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi, but they call it "Shot Through the Heart". Zig.
Shot Through the Heart... that's how cupid gets folks to fall in love. Cupid is the world's most famous archer and since the story is actually about archery... Zag.
I spent the afternoon learning MONASP which is the Missouri National Archery School Program. Before today, I had never shot a bow or even held one. I was a bit hesitant taking this 8 hour long class (and giving up an entire Saturday!!). I did it anyway. I'm learning that saying yes leads to many more exciting things than saying no does.
Exciting it was. My two MDC friends from the women's deer hunt at SNR-Kurt and Dennis, taught the class. The class was filled with a great group of people-seriously cool folks. I sat with two really down to earth guys named Dan and Ben and enjoyed getting to know them.
NASP targets teaching archery in schools to kids from fourth to twelfth grade. One of the first things we did was watch a short video on how NASP helps kids become more confident, better students, and improves attitudes. We were warned that the video was a "little corny". It did seem a little far-fetched. Archery is THAT powerful? By the end of class, I was a believer.
My day long class featured: videos, study guides, and lots of hands-on activities. We set up the range by hanging an arrow curtain and measuring various distances and then marking those distances with long lines using blue painter's tape. We did a few exercises to determine eye dominance (I'm a righty).
The range basically consisted of: the arrow curtain, targets, tape lines, quivers, and a rack holding the bows. It was a very simple. There was also a sign reminding us of the 11 steps to archery success. As we prepared to shoot, we would go through each of the eleven steps to keep us focused, safe, and successful. They are: 1. Stance 2. nock arrow 3. drawing hand set 4. bow hand set 5. predraw 6. draw 7. anchor 8. aim 9. shot set up 10. release 11. follow through/ reflect. The eleven steps really helped me to focus on what I was actually doing.
We were told to pair up and practice coaching each other going through the 11 steps and use the CPR technique (compliment, positive correction, and review). I shot first. I set the "bow on toes" and went through the 11 steps. I released, and the arrow hit the target! I was surprised at how easy it was. Fun and easy! I was successful!
After spending the afternoon learning this olympic sport and practicing, I left believing what I saw in that first video. Archery has the power to change kid's lives. To learn this sport in just a few hours and have immediate success was such a confidence building activity. I look forward to pursing archery and teaching it to others (starting with my daughters!).
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