Over the past eighteen months, 100 of our students have been working to earn pins.  Amongst all of them they have made 795 pin attempts and earned 469 pins.  They have also been prepared for external competition as well, as David ensures that we run the achievement pin shoots with timing and protocol just like a publicly competitive event.

David also tutors Level 1 and 2 coaches.  Over the past two years, he has instructed dozens students on their way to L1 and L2 coaching certifications.

David has two youth students that compete nationally.  Here are their accomplishments:

Katherine Pan (age category – cadet):

Grapestakes – 2nd place

AAE Arizona – Qualification: 26th Final: 17th

Eastern JOAD Nationals – Qualification: 40th Final: 17th

PAC Cup – 9th

State Indoor – 14th

State Outdoor – 8th

National Indoor JOAD – 14th

National Indoor – 21st

SoCal Showdown – Qualification: 23rd Final: 17th

State Ranking – 5th (2013 as a cub, 2014 results not released)

National Ranking – 29th

Patrick Pan (age category-cadet)

Grapestakes – 2nd place

AAE Arizona – Qualification 52

Eastern jJOAD Nationals – 90

Pac Cup – 15

CA State indoor – 17

National indoor – 92

State ranking – 10

Started/runs Golden Gate JOAD

He personally started the Golden Gate JOAD club here in San Francisco.  The club is open to anyone 8 or older to come and take a lesson (equipment provided) for $20.  None of the instructors or David are paid.  David is at the range for club practice every Saturday from 6:30am to noon, setting up the range and taking it down.  He is also there at the range during the week, maintaining the gear that we keep in a container there.  He also maintains all the club equipment, including arrow and bow maintenance.

Grooming new L1 and L2 coaches

I’ve participated in David’s L1 and L2 training, both as a student and as a demonstration instructor helping to teach the L1 students who need to observe other coaches’ style.

David not only teaches you the core technical information, but he grooms the coaches ability to understand what a student is thinking, how they perceive the coaching interaction, and how to effectively motivate them.  In one exercise I did with him for the students studying for L1, David had me coach a hypothetical student.

I thought about what David had taught me about coaching, and I proceeded to do everything “wrong”.  I checked my phone in the middle of a conversation, I said only negative things about the student’s form, I stood over the student who was much shorter than me, I didn’t listen to what he had to say, and I cut him off when he talked.

As much as we all laughed during this exercise, every L1 coaching candidate recognized the value in understanding what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a poorly conducting coaching session, and we all learned a lot from this exercise.

That style is classic David coaching style.  He always makes sure you’re feeling good about yourself while you’re shooting, because he knows nobody has to do archery.  They do it because they enjoy the sport.  If they no longer enjoy the sport, they won’t shoot better, they’ll just stop shooting.

Additionally, David has been instrumental in working with the SF Parks and Recreation department.  He has successfully convinced them that the archery range should remain a free facility without reservation or fee requirements.  This is a rare benefit in one of the most expensive cities in America, especially considering that the city has attempted to alleviate perpetual budget concerns by monetizing every other part of Golden Gate Park.

Archery for kids with disabilities, scouts, church

David has volunteered for several years to help introduce archery at camps to children with physical disabilities including those with multiple sclerosis, congenital hand differences and limb loss.  Each year at Camp Winning Hands, a family camp sponsored by two local children’s hospitals, David works to coordinate volunteer coaches, assist in set up of the range, equipment and provides instruction for these special needs campers.  Many of these kids would never have the opportunity to try archery given their disabilities.  He works with occupational and hand therapists to develop adaptations to bows and releases and to provide a way for these kids to have the ability to play and explore archery in a safe environment.

Although less dramatic than Camp Winning Hands, David also runs archery programs for his local Church and local scouting groups.

Assisting with Community College of San Francisco

Archery coach Diane Nagura runs the City College archery program.  She says, “David Chan has assisted with the City College of San Francisco Archery program since 2005.  He is a valuable asset in working with the instructor and the students as he is a level 4 Archery Coach.”

David trained me as both an archer and a coach when I took my L1 and now through my L2 study.  What I’ve liked the most about David is that he’s not particularly talkative.  He keeps quiet, watching his students, observing them, even observing their parents.   When he sees a student struggling with a non-safety technique issue he doesn’t always jump in and tell them to fix it.  Quite often he’ll explain to me that he wants the student to first master the technique he’s working on, before adding another variable.

Another thing I admire about David’s coaching is his open attitude about other coaches and styles.  There are a number of coaches at the public range and he is very, very clear that he feels that any student should be allowed to shoot with any coach.  While its true that David isn’t trying to build an archery coaching business, he’s been outspoken before that he’s fine if his students want to work with other coaches.  “Everyone should be allowed to shoot with everyone” is the phrase that sticks out in my mind.  There is very little of the territorial attitude you see when some coaches are working on the same range.

Some of the coaches I’ve met are proprietary about their students, possibly because of the revenue stream, but also just from an unhealthy sense of ego.  David does not have these traits, and it makes it possible for him to work with everyone.