Pacific Coast Archery tournament
Three Golden Gate JOAD students attended the Pacific Coast Archery tournament this weekend. Inside you’ll find some photos I took of the event, which I really enjoyed. A quick note about archery tournaments. If you only go to win 1st place (and therefore don’t go if you doubt your ability to do so) you are missing out.
Also, Rick McKinney, two time Olympic archery medal-winner, happened to “drop by” the event and participate. There’s always someone better, so it’s best to focus on what you can get out of the event without needing to come in #1.
A tournament gives you a chance to observe archers, including lots of archers better than you, share tips, and shoot under pressure. You can also learn to shoot under unusual conditions where the light, wind, sun, ground, and precipitation is all different. All of these things will make you a better archer. Here are some photos I took.
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- The shooting line
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- The rules for visually impaired archers allow them to have a special rig that is pointed at the target that they stand against. They also position their bow hand on a special sighting device adjusted to the target distance. A range official walks them back and forth to the target and marks their scores.
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- The visually impaired archers shoot with special gear, seen here next to the judge’s table.
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- On Saturday a deluge abruptly ended the tournament. We know the day was done when the porta-potties were underwater.
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- When you have over 320 archers shooting two in each lane, you still need a lot of targets.
