Blind archers hit the mark.
BROOKFIELD Tony Jandrowski faced downrange and took a deep breath.
After a few seconds, the 54-year-old Milwaukee man raised a recurve bow, drew the string with his right hand and snugged the outside of his left against the cushioned end of a bolt.
The structure helped Jandrowski who is blind - put the bow in proper position for a shot.
“Looking good,” said archery instructor Lyle Maryniak, 58, of Wauwatosa. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Maryniak had earlier told his class of blind archers that “Zen masters say the arrow tells the archer when it is ready.”
Jandrowski, his archery equipment and Buddhist principle apparently converged a moment later.
The arrow flew true and pierced the target 15 yards away. What’s more, it cozied up to Jandrowski’s two previous arrows to form an impressively tight group.
“Outstanding!” Maryniak said as he guided Jandrowski to extract the arrows.
Within minutes, the other members of the class, Katrina Rainey, 34, and Anthony Ricks, 45, both of Milwaukee, took turns at the shooting line and peppered the targets with new arrow holes.
Each archer smiled when, after Maryniak led them downrange to check their shots, their fingers found the arrows embedded in the targets.
The gathering at West Town Archery’s indoor range in Brookfield was the third and final installment of free, experimental program for the blind started this summer by Maryniak.
Maryniak, semi-retired after a 36-year corporate career at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, is an unofficial ambassador for ancient sport.
He is known to many as organizer of the archery venue at the Scottish Highland Games in Waukesha where he has helped many hundreds of attendees shoot a longbow over the last dozen years.
But his archery chops extend all the way to his early childhood. His parents ran an archery shop in North Lake, Ill.; Maryniak first flung arrows at 18 months of age.
His passion for the sport ebbed and flowed over the decades but has heated up in recent years. He now holds a Level 2 instructor certification from the USA Archery Association.
Maryniak said his idea to offer an archery program for the blind can be traced to two events. The first was an experience he had shooting a bow blindfolded at a USA Archery Association course.
The second was last year at the Scottish Highland Games when his friend Dan Smars of West Allis (who is blind), asked him for help shooting a bow.
Maryniak happily obliged, and the challenging request fueled his creativity: What is the best way to teach archery to those without sight?
Archery is sometimes called the “sport of mankind since time began.” If any group is underrepresented in the archery ranks, it’s the blind.
But as a lifelong archer, Maryniak also knew the mental and physical benefits of the sport should be enjoyed by all.
Maryniak did some research and lots of tinkering. He came up with two key pieces of equipment - a set of bars placed on the ground to guide the archer’s feet and a bolt attached to the top of a tripod to help position the archer’s hand.
All of the equipment is available at any hardware store for “less than 25 bucks,” Maryniak said.
But its assistance to a sightless archer is invaluable.
Maryniak contacted Vision Forward, a Milwaukee organization that provides services to people with visual impairments, to find archers for what he calls his “pilot program.”
“We’re all learning,” Maryniak said.
“Tell me about it,” Rainey said with a laugh.
When it was her turn, Rainey accepted the offer of an arm guard to prevent “string rash” on an archer’s forearm.
“Bruises are overrated,” Maryniak said.
Maryniak reversed the floor bars and tripod for Rainey, a southpaw. She proceeded to hit the target with each of her shots.
“It’s fun to feel the arrow go and then hear it hit,” Rainey said. “I could get used to this.” Next it was Ricks’ turn. Ricks said he shot archery once before at a camp, but didn’t really like it. He was much more impressed by Maryniak’s teaching and philosophy.
“I like the technique of it all,” Ricks said. “It’s like a martial arts discipline, which is cool.”
Ricks had good vision as a child but developed glaucoma as an adult. One eye was removed and he had multiple surgeries, including a corneal transplant, on the other.
The efforts failed to restore his sight.
“It took a long tome for me to cope with the fact my vision wasn’t going to get better,” Ricks said. “After time, I was able to focus on moving forward.”
Losing his sight hasn’t deterred Ricks from engaging in sports. He plays Wiffle ball on a regular basis, enjoys competition and likes to push his limits. Now archery is added to the list. “Another challenge, another challenge,” Ricks said.
Maryniak said he is looking to expand archery offerings for those with vision loss.
“We need more instructors so we can reach more people,” Maryniak said. “We’re at the position now where we kind of know what we’re doing.”
Maryniak said he’d hoped the archers would continue their exploits with stick and string, perhaps someday even becoming a certified archery instructor.
More immediately, he invited them to shoot at the Scottish Highland Games, held Labor Day weekend in Waukesha. A dedicated area will be prepared at this year’s event with equipment to assist blind archers.
“I’m already thinking about it,” Ricks said.