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 Jul 13, 2005 Hi !
In this newsletter: |
| NArchival Archery Target National Championships |
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One of the largest, most enjoyable tournaments in the US is going to be held in Colorado Springs, just about one month from now. There are a great number of JOAD archers that shoot at this event each time - you can shoot and you can have fun too! It is a long event but it is spaced out so that you only shoot two distances each day for 4 days running. MANY young archers shoot their best personal scores ever at this event.  Use the link to read more and see the information on the event.
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| Where Dreams Come True |
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by Tom Barker Yes, the Disney JOAD Nationals was where dreams came true. Unfortunately, not all dreams were good dreams. A quick review of some of the bad, and then on to the many good: Queuing up three times for back numbers and liability waivers, archer tickets and then spectator tickets was not the best way to start the official practice day. The 3/4-mile hike to the shooting venue made for a sour disposition even before the first arrow had been shot. But archers and their families are a resilient group and they worked over the hurdles that Disney threw at the group. The judges and tournament officials all went out of their way to make up for the delayed start with a very efficient equipment inspection and they handily got the kids up and practicing. The thundershowers came in mid-afternoon and shut things down for a while. Friday morning saw archers and spectators streaming in and the day went well with an occasional shower but nothing like the rains that were forecast. The single line of shooting allowed folks to get done and off the field unless they were shooting the team round. There were more than enough parents and officials to help the Disney volunteers and staff learn about archery tournaments, such as turning off the music while the archers are shooting. Director of Shooting (DOS) Neil Foster inserted strategic breaks into the shooting schedule to allow for the quarter-mile hikes to the bathrooms. Chairman of Judges Bob Pian and his group of judges went the extra mile in their efforts to take care of the customers and turn mountains into molehills. Saturday's short distances were almost as fast as Friday's, but then we waited a couple of hours for the FITA awards to be presented on the field. It was a great time to meet new folks and exchange ideas on what local attractions to go and see. Sunday's Olympic Round (OR) had the experienced folks teaching the new ones how the OR worked and getting kids to the right targets at the right times. Once it got started, it went very well with some fantastic matches under hot and steamy conditions. By mid-afternoon the matches were complete and many of the good dreams were realized. The enduring memory of this event for me is the tremendous sportsmanship exhibited by the vast majority of the participants, the respect for and from the judges and archers, and the resilience of the archers, parents, judges, and organizers to conditions beyond their control. I was privileged to see the best of the NArchival Archery in action. It was, to coin a local phrase, "truly magical". For the final results of the NArchival Archery JOAD Nationals on the USA Archery Website please use this link to view the index of results and for the bulletin covering the essentials of the event's outcome, use this link.If anyone has photos of the event which they would like to see posted on the A State Archery Association (AA) photographs section, please email them to the webmaster. Please name the photos with the names of the archers where known, at least 800x600 resolution with no compression, and feel free to include any commentary you would like to go with the photos. |
| Secrets for JOAD Parents |
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"Secrets" By Bob Pian, a JOAD dad and former Arizona JOAD Coordinator Here are the secrets I have learned as a JOAD parent… • The best resources for JOAD information… are JOAD parents (just like yourself) who have been in JOAD for three or so years longer than you have. Their information is relatively current and unencumbered by outdated information. Finding these "journeymen" parents may be challenging. They are usually the ones who are new judges (bright red shirts), helping with target faces and stands or wandering around visiting folks because they no longer need or care to watch each and every arrow by their child. If at first you don’t succeed, seek out someone else until you find one of those parents that is willing to share and help you avoid the long learning curve they went through. • The NArchival Archery staff is just like us. They are a small group of folks who are trying to manage a variety of items such as Funding, Insurance, JOADs, Seniors, Masters, Paralympic athletes, NFAA and FITA coordination, USOC, Camps, Coaches, Judges, Copanarco, Archer Development, Judge Training, Sponsorships, Tournaments, Championships, Results, Records, USAT and Jr. USAT, US Anti-Doping Agency and much more. Their plate is full. • Finding out information… I have found that the JOAD chain of command works well. Parents should seek out their State JOAD coordinator. If your state doesn’t have one, ask a coordinator from a neighboring state. As a State JOAD Coordinator, I would ask the JOAD Regional Coordinator, Ted Harden, questions that would come up. If he could not answer the question he would ask National JOAD Coordinator, formerly Randi Smith and now Jim Krueger. They in turn would ask the appropriate NArchival Archery staff if they could not answer the question. More often than not the answer would be that the JOAD Committee is aware of the situation and is working the issue. For instance, the 2005 Gold JOAD Camp was moved to avoid the South Illinois Cup, a Jr. USAT qualifier. The NArchival Archery had been working the issue for weeks by the time I asked and the change was ready to be posted. • We learn something each time and every time we go to a tournament… You will learn a mountain of information at the first few tournaments. There is so much to know, it’s difficult to know everything. For instance, did you know that your archer must be on the line ready to shoot when the 10 seconds expires before shooting your first OR match? You don’t learn these things until you see it happen at a tournament, hopefully to someone else. • Who is supposed to help make things happen at a grass roots level. We are! That’s right, folks like you and me who "don’t know anything". The reality is that JOAD parents age out just as the JOADs kids’ age out. There are a few adult leaders who have a passion to support youth development but they are usually at their limit. That leaves you and me to become Level II instructors, judges and most importantly, volunteers so that our kids can gain the experience that will allow them to achieve their potential. I think you will find that hosting tournaments, facilitating training session so the JOAD archers can practice team rounds and match play and helping to show the whole JOAD group that what they are doing is worthwhile and can be very rewarding. • Finding a coach… Much as been written about this topic. The only secret I know of is to ask your instructor/coach early on to tell you when your JOAD needs to move on to a new instructor/coach. Typical reasons to move on are that the instructor/coach has given all he or she can, or the JOAD archer is no longer absorbing the instruction being offered. • Join the NAA…This seems like such a simple secret. We have a family membership. It allows all to take part as archers, Judges, Instructor/Coaches. It empowers you to know that you are a member and worthy of consideration. It modestly funds the NArchival Archery efforts. We are also NFAA members. They are a very supportive of youth archery. • Compete… If National and World competition are their ultimate goals, help your JOAD compete by encouraging your JOAD to take part in tournaments that closely match National and World competition. The idea is not to complicate the process, but instead to create an environment where by the JOADs has a major tournament experience so that a real major tournament seems normal to them. • A kid's JOAD career is a very short one - before you know, that 18th birthday has arrived… Support your JOAD when they ask for it. Before you know it, they will be "seniors". • There are a host of topics that are personal in nature… Should parents coach their child? How much practice is enough? How do you get sponsored? How do you get time and funding to do all that needs to be done? How do you convince the school that it’s okay to miss so much school? Sorry, no secrets, just personal journeys. • Finally…
Bob Pian can be reached at Arizona Junior and Collegiate Archery Email azjoad@cox.net Addendum by Ron Carmichael: There is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Document of nearly 26 pages that covers MANY questions that JOAD parents will have at the beginning. You can find it on the JOAD website at this link. |
| JOAD Archers Compete In Mexico City! |
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by Alan Huff Several USA JOAD archers took part in the 2005 Mexican Grand Prix Star FITA in Mexico City May 15-21, 2005. Arizona JOAD Jr. Recurve Maggie Huff and dad Alan traveled from Tucson, Arizona to Mexico City. There they joined California JOADs Sara and Daniel Holstein, Tiffany Hirano, Allison and Joseph Zemek, and their families.  The event was one of the World Ranking Tournaments in our FITA Copanarco Continental Congress region. Maggie Huff answers some questions about this experience:XFiles: Have you competed outside of the USA before? MH: I competed in England last year as part of the U.S. Jr. World Cadet Recurve team. Our whole family made the trip and had a really great time. XFiles: What led you to consider competing in the 2005 Mexican Grand Prix? XFiles: So how were your flights? XFiles: Can you tell us more about this? XFiles: I understand that competing in Mexico was quite different from a tournament in the USA. XFiles: And the venue? XFiles: What about the tournament itself?  MH: The length of the tournament could have been compressed by shooting the FITA all in one day. Having it over two days, however, allowed for some much needed relaxation. The week seemed to go by pretty quickly. Originally, the Juniors were scheduled for a day off, but then were allowed to shoot in the World Ranking round with the Seniors. XFiles: From a spectator’s point of view, how was it? XFiles: Did you have a chance to sight-see or take any tours? XFiles: How did you do in the competition? XFiles: What impression did you leave with? XFiles: What would you say to others who might consider taking part in a Copanarco country tournament? |
| Additional Ways To Have Fun With JOAD Archers |
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For quite some time Tom Barker has been at the helm of a very productive and positive combination 4-H/JOAD club he started in Victoria, A. Hardly a conversation I have with him does not end with me realizing that I have learned something new about archery. He recently shared with me a game that he created for his archery kids, and here it is for you to adapt and enjoy. It is an archery adaptation of the game "capture the flag". The object is, as the name implies, to capture the opponent's flag and in this case, by being the first team/archer to shoot an "X" on a Vegas-style 40 cm target. It can be played with individuals or teams, either shooting in the same direction or opposing each other with a suitable distance between targets (as in a football stadium.) You start out easy at 90 meters with a 122cm target, and work through four distances and four targets (122, 80,60,40). Each archer has only 12 arrows in the quiver, and has to shoot the targets in order of largest to smallest to "advance". Two arrows in the yellow at 90 meters means you get to advance to 70 meters to shoot the 80cm target. Two in the yellow at 70m and you get to advance to 50m for the 60 cm target. Finally at 30 meters you are shooting at the 40cm target with the opportunity to capture the flag and hopefully (and here is the trick) you have some arrows left over. For added emphasis you could put something in the middle so that when an arrow strikes it the object explodes like a clay pigeon. There is also some opportunity for strategy - if you find yourself behind you can always go for a "home run" and shoot for the 40 cm target at any distance. In case of ties, the individual or team with the most arrows left in the quiver wins. If the archers are still tied, there can be a one arrow shoot off. Of course, you can adjust the distances for your own JOAD to be sure that it is challenging for them, but not TOO easy. The goal is to have fun. For OTHER fun ideas for your JOAD shooting, use this link to see some more ideas. Thanks, Tom, for another fun idea! |
| Powerpoint Presentation Improves Instruction |
The NArchival Archery has a program of instructing those who wish to instruct. The process is divided into "levels" and each level has it's own purpose. The USA Archery website has a page that explains these in some depth. These levels and the entire process are under review and likely to evolve in the near future. The Level I is something from which any serious archer can benefit, the same is true for the Level II. It also is a logical way for the archer to be aware and informed enough to act as an intelligent spokesman for the sport, and to act as a natural encouragement to younger archers. The Level I course content has been put into a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation by Larry Sullivan, a long-time archer and coach. It makes great sense and can be used as a reference by JOAD instructors with their kids as well. You will need to have the Powerpoint program by Microsoft, or else download and install a viewer like this one. Just download this zip file and unzip the contents into a folder, and use the PPT program or viewer to run it. Thanks to Larry for a great presentation and to the NArchival Archery for allowing its posting here. And look for more changes in the educational process from the NAA. |
| How to Choose and Use a Youth Archery Coach |
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- by Tom and Chelsea Barker There may come a time when your child shows significant potential as an archer and you find that you cannot help them anymore. It is time to find a mentor or coach for your child. This article is written to help you choose a coach and then assist you in how to benefit the most from that person. How to Choose By degree of compatibility: How to Use Your Coach Once the sessions begin, you and the coach should be working together. This requires good communications on homework, expectations and goal-setting. One role for the parent is to reinforce positives and minimize negatives. For example, there usually is a decline in initial performance when the archer begins trying new things the coach is suggesting. The parent can help allay fears that the youngster might have. It is sometimes difficult for young people to understand that things might get worse before they get better. A good coach will report accomplishments or tasks that are being worked on during practice after each lesson to keep you informed to further support the child. It is sometimes hard for the parent to give up his or her old role as coach/parent and just be the parent now. The new parent role is chief cheerleader and auditor. If you find yourself in conflict with the instructions the coach is giving the youngster, it is time to discuss it with the coach away from the archer. It can also be detrimental to try and augment the instructions the coach is giving because the youngster may not be ready for that part yet or it can overload them. One of the most trying times for parents is at tournaments. Tournaments are when everyone gets to see the results of the work the coach and archer have put in. Sometimes it can be an improvement, but frequently it can indicate more training is needed. Guy Krueger once mentioned that how an archer performs in tournaments only indicates if they are ahead or behind their training schedule. One of the hardest things for a parent to do is to let the coach be the coach at a tournament. A coach should have the ability to maintain a collected demeanor to keep the archer calm and focused on the task at hand and help the archer with the mental game. This is essential to the archer’s performance, especially at a big tournament. Parents, while coaches understand your feelings, it is easy to get caught up emotionally with how your child is doing and if your child sees that anxiety, it can be detrimental to the mental game. In crucial moments at a tournament, it is often beneficial for the parents to watch from a bit of a distance and let the coach have the contact with your child at that point. The child can still see you and knows you are watching and encouraging (give them a big thumbs up or something visual to encourage them). All the archer is looking for from mom and dad is unconditional support and reassurance. It is enormously comforting to the youth archer to know that all I have to do is shoot because if anything goes wrong, I have my coach and my parents behind me. As parents, it is important to reinforce positives, such as personal bests, good shots, improved form, a positive attitude, or good sportsmanship. We should de-emphasize score, placement, poor shots and mistakes. If any person shoots long enough, a “bad” day is bound to happen, but with the right approach, it can be turned into a learning event and made into a “good” day. If you want your child’s coach at the tournament, you should expect to pay for that. But here is what you should and should not expect. Do not expect a lot of “coaching” to occur at a tournament. There is enough stress at a match already. Your coach may make minor suggestions about shot execution to reinforce what they have been working on, but do not expect major changes here. In all honesty, a tournament is not the place to do that. Please do not feel that just because the coach is not changing things in the middle of the tournament that you should fill in the gap. The coach is observing and making mental notes about things to work on for the next sessions. The coach pays attention to how the archer operates and approaches each shot mentally during practice and can influence the thought process in a positive manner that is specific to your child. Do not expect your coach to watch every single shot of your archer. They are looking for other things from other archers that might help your child. They also want to see how independent the archer is. Has he or she learned how to adjust the sight, how to shoot in the wind, and how to interact with other archers on the line? A good coach will work to give the student independence in those areas to give them confidence in their abilities early on and to have them involved in all aspects of shooting because it is not just pulling the string back and letting it go. All of those skills are just as important to learn without help from the coach or parent. Expect your coach to be an additional cheerleader and to support your archer at a tournament. The coach should positively reinforce the things that have been worked on in practice that are going well. Finally, there may come a time when a good coach comes to you and says that he or she cannot help your child anymore. This is a good coach who knows his or her limitations and will be useful in helping your youth archer find a new mentor. This can be tough for the archer who sees the old coach now as friend and confidant. But it helps if both the coach and parents explain to the archer that they are not replacing the coach, as children may fear severing that relationship. They are instead adding to the team, just as when the original coach was added to the team. about the authors: Tom's passion has been youth archery because of the life skills that can be taught through archery. Tom is an NFAA certified coach and a NArchival Archery Level II Instructor and has mentored hundreds of youth archers.  Chelsea shot as a JOAD archer for eight years and put her bow down in order to obtain a degree in exercise physiology at Baylor University. She will perform her graduate work at A Tech starting the summer of 2005. She has conducted summer camps and continues to mentor both recurve and compound archers. She is a NArchival Archery Level II Instructor, |
| JOAD National Targets, From The DOS' Point Of View |
By Neil Foster, longtime NArchival Archery Judge and current NArchival Archery Board member, Southern Region Disney Archery...well.......yuck. After thinking overall about the JOAD Nationals held at Disney's Wide World Of Sports venue, I am convinced that they should stick to theme parks and hotels, both of which they do very well. In some sports they might be ok, such as baseball, basketball, soccer - things which perhaps don't require a lot of active support from them. The Disney volunteer staff for the most part were of no help although some were trying and actually did serve some good. But on the one day when we found we really needed them, they took off for lunch! On the other hand and in a positive light, the judges and the folks working with Fred DeMuth never left the field. Fred's staff was excellent and all did a great job. It was obvious that some of the archers were not prepared for a National tournament. It is the responsibility of their JOAD coaches to do a better job in education and preparing them for the event. The Bowman archers did a surprisingly fine job in scoring, and they could have taught the older archers how to do it properly. For example, in spite of the standard, oft-repeated instructions, there were a number of arrow scores changed on the score card by the archer rather than a judge! I'd like to point out that the parents who helped with the scoring on the youngest archers did a fine job. Also on the subject of coaches not preparing their archers properly, many archers seemed either unaware or did not pay attention to the horn/whistle signals and would instead go to the line before the signal and go down the field before the three signals. This was a problem primarily with the Junior men (some guys never listen). And in contrast, the young ladies were wonderful - attentive and appearing more aware and intelligent. I must admit after all these years I am still a safety fanatic. Since it might sound like there were a lot of problems, I want to hasten to say that these were the only real problems from the Director Of Shooting (DOS) standpoint. The tournament was well run, the archers shot well in spite of some funky Florida weather. One delay was due to the ranking of the individual archers for the team round - Fred, sorry you did all that work for nothing! But it provided a long practice session that probably benefited more than a few nervous young archers. In retrospect, and as a hint for next year's event in Ohio, we could have, should have, had the base eliminations for the OR for the Cub men (both compound and recurve) the afternoon before. It certainly would have sped things up if everyone started out on the same time frame. Also, there should have been a JOAD committee meeting on the field but as I recall, only Cindy Bevilacqua was present - though at times I am sure she represents a quorum all by herself. We need to get more parents out of the chairs, up and involved as it does seem to be the same group volunteering all the time. Again, the tournament went well in spite of the lack of any substantial support from Disney. They just do not understand archery and I do hope we never go back. One final thought - from the comments I had from the parents, I think most folks missed not having a banquet. I know the JOAD committee decided against one because of the $35 (rumored cost ?) from Disney. Next year I do hope they plan a banquet! THINK TENS! Neil Foster |
| Junior World Preparations |
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by Bob Pian Summer 2005, The 2006 Jr World Team Championships Trials are less than a year away. It is not too early to begin to prepare.
The former Jr. U.S. World Team members answered question and spoke about the trials process including: The importance of the round robins and shooting your best regardless whether you are winning or losing. Topics including equipment failures, checking to make sure that the scores are being recorded correctly, flag vs. lights vs. timers, dress code, nutrition and customs. All archers were encouraged to secure their passports before they went to the trials. After the six made the U.S. Jr. World Team, preparations continued by hosting a get-together where former U.S. Jr. World Team members spoke about travel specifics, living, eating, interaction with international competitors, tournament organization, and their experiences and lessons learned. Their experiences seemed much more real at this point. The new team members learned that making the team meant that they needed to practice more intensely so that they could make the most of their Jr. World Team Championship experience and represent the USA proudly. They also were now a part of an actual team and were responsible for their team member to stay focused and support each other.
The total cost of a self funded trip to Europe approaches $3000 plus personal items. To represent the U.S.A. internationally can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Of the six team members who competed in 2004, two went on to make the 2005 Indoor World Championship team as juniors and all but one continues to compete nationally. Many that took part are considering collegiate archery, including the Arizona State University Sun Devil Archery Club. |
| CALL FOR ASSISTANCE - Editors and Writers Needed |
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Attention all parents, coaches, and JOAD archers! The XFiles JOAD Newsletter is in need of new editors and writers. This is a fun undertaking that has the potential to touch and positively effect the lives of many young archers around the United States. It is best performed by those who have JOAD archers of their own, so we are hoping that some of you will respond. You do not need professional expertise, just a willingness to volunteer and step up to the shooting line. What is involved? It is not very difficult. The editor simply uses persuasion, begging, and cajoling to persuade JOAD archers, parents, coaches, and judges to contribute articles and to decide when an issue is appropriate. You will need to insure accuracy and appropriateness of content, but to assist you all issues are vetted by the JOAD Committee and the NArchival Archery Director as well as the President of the NArchival Archery prior to publishing. There is no set schedule for publishing issues so there is not much "publish pressure" beyond what you put upon yourself. Once the articles are complete, the photos found, you send all the content to the email publisher (me) who maintains the subscriptions and emails the issue, and puts a copy on the JOAD.ORG website for posterity and continued access by all archers anywhere in the world. As a writer, you just write about what you feel is important for your own JOAD archer, from your perspective as a parent, as a coach, or most importantly, as a JOAD ARCHER YOURSELF. There is no monetary compensation - in other words, you get paid in ways other than money. Most importantly, you get the knowledge that you have done something positive to help other archers. It can be fun. So if you have a contribution to make, why not make it? Please write the current publisher, Ron Carmichael, using this email link, to find out more.And I wish to welcome Alan Rudolph as an editor. Alan has volunteered to assist in the editing of articles. Here's a brief bio from Alan: I have a Level II rating, am teaching archery at a summer camp for the 27th year, and help with a JOAD club at home during the rest of the year working with Larry Sullivan. I shoot FITA recurve in several Masters tournaments each year. |
A summary of college and university archery programs has been updated at this link.
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