Finding its mark
Archery catches on with Union County high schoolers
The sport of archery falls under the umbrella Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. It’s not sponsored by the Arkansas Activities Association but it offers scholarships to outstanding student-athletes with opportunities to advance to college and even the Olympics.
El Dorado introduced a senior high program to go along with teams at Barton and Washington Middle Schools. West Side Christian fielded a junior high team and Parkers Chapel had a junior high team this season.
El Dorado senior high coach Brent Smith, who also runs Slingin’ Arrows, an archery shop, expressed excitement over the sport’s reception in the area.
“I hope local schools getting involved will grow the sport and all our county schools will get involved,” Smith said.
Smith said he was an avid bow hunter for years and gradually grew more intrigued by the sport.
“As I played with bows more and more, I started tinkering and learning more about them over the years. I moved back to the area in 2012 and began teaching and coaching volleyball at EHS,” Smith said. “After much thought and prayer with my wife, we finally decided to move forward with plans to open an archery retail store with an emphasis on teaching. So, in 2015, I attended the PSE Coaching, Teaching and Technical course in Tucson and then we opened the doors to Slingin’ Arrows in August of the same year.
“Searching out ways to grow the sport of archery in our area, I joined the Louisiana Field Archery Association and began attending and hosting local tournaments. Since Arkansas doesn’t currently have a Field Archery Association, we were able to participate with Louisiana and it has been a great partnership,” he added.
Barton has claimed back-toback regional and state tournament titles. Washington’s fifth and sixth graders finished second in the regional with PC sixth and West Side seventh.
Barton’s success, at least in part, helped spark interest in a senior high program at El Dorado.
“I had several parents ask about a high school program because their kids had done so well at Barton and they wanted to keep shooting in high school as well,” said Smith. “Talks with my former principal began and shortly thereafter, Mrs. Reibe had come up with a plan for me to come to the high school for one class period a day and teach archery in the mornings before my business opened.”
Barton coach Scot Perry said having a senior high team added incentive to the younger archers.
“The best part of the high school having a program, when those kids left Barton, it was their last hurrah. Now the eighth graders have something to shoot for because they know there’s a high school team they can compete on,” said Perry, who talked about the future of archery at the school.
“Obviously, the direction is going up. The parents have an excitement about them and their kids being on the archery team. There’s a pride to it. The expectation is there. They just want to do well. The administration, the school district – everybody supports it.”