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[tinatassoarcher]

Long Off Season

 Some have probably wondered where I’ve been. Some know and would probably like an update. Well, let’s go back. Back to GBAA State and NFAA SE Sectionals in March 2016. For me, it was an awful tournament. My worst yet. I have had trouble with my wrist off and on for a couple of years, but during that tournament the pain had actually gotten bad enough that I allowed my coach to wrap my wrist to get me through to the end of Sunday’s shooting.

I went to see my GP that Tuesday and he said sprain, but was going to send the xrays off to be examined. I’m not an xray reading expert, but I have had plenty of xrays of my own wrist and ankles that I took one look and knew it wasn’t a sprain. I waited a couple of weeks and then sought out an orthopedist. He took an xray and didn’t like what he saw. He took an MRI and didn’t like what he saw. For I was correct, what was wrong with my wrist was not a sprain, but rather a cyst inside the bone causing my pain and discomfort. Orthopedist said surgery. So there went the 2016 Archery Outdoor Season!!!

So, surgery was scheduled for June 3rd. But the pain was getting pretty bad. That after calling the office and them trying two (2) different prescription pain meds - which neither one worked on me at all - I finally asked that if this surgeon couldn’t do the surgery sooner, is there someone else that could do it. Within the hour my surgery had been rescheduled for May 20th. So I went from the day before surgery with taking 1000mg of Tylenol which barely dulled the pain - to - the day after surgery and taking no pain meds of any kind. Oh Lord, did that feel so much better. Now to suffer the next 6 weeks in a cast up and around my elbow...... That was NOT fun!! Not in the middle of summer in Georgia, but I survived. It actually wasn’t a traditional plaster cast. They originally wrapped my arm in this post op split brace (because staples were to be removed a week after surgery), and they actually re-wrapped my arm up in that after removing the staples. Since it was split along two sides and only wrapped around my elbow just above the joint it didn’t get quite as hot as a traditional full arm plaster cast. The tech that did the re-wrap after taking the staples out asked me what color wrapping I wanted. I said how about Red, White and Blue! She said she had Red and Blue. lol I told her ok, just wrap it up in Blue. She asked if she could have a little fun with my wrapping. I said sure, and this is what I got.....

This was her attempt at Red, White and Blue with what she had to work with. I give her an A++ for the attempt and the out-of-the-box thinking.

The cast officially came off on June 28th and the surgeon said I didn’t have to wear a brace and no PT was needed. That flexibility would come back on it’s own with use. NO PT!!!! That didn’t sit well with me. Not with me, my parents, my GP, my friends, my co-workers, the doctors and surgeons that my co-workers talked to.... It’s like the entire universe was have a collective - WTH!!! After a week of being out of the cast and still not even being able to put a spoon or a fork in my mouth without switching hands my GP had had enough and he ordered PT. Which in the end worked out extremely well. The surgeon that operated on my wrist is based out of Athens and since I live in the Buford area he knew no one to refer me to down here anyways. He even said that if he referred me for PT it would have been with someone he knew in the Athens area. Given that Athens is an hour drive from my house, I’m super happy that my GP referred me.

My physical therapists Andrew and Brendon at Back In The Game are great. First working with me to just get flexibility back. After three sessions I could turn the key in the ignition of my car without having to reach around the steering wheel with my left hand. A few weeks later, I surprised myself and my parents as I sat at the kitchen table and just automatically put a spoon full of Shells n’ Cheese in my mouth without even flinching. That was awesome!!!

Once the surgeon’s weight restriction was lifted on August 28th, we began working more on weight management and building strength back up. Push-ups are still a little tough to do, but I’m getting there.

Along with the release the surgeon gave me for the weight restriction, he gave me a release to start back with archery on September 28th. But for my peace of mind, I wanted an xray prior to officially doing anything archery related. So on September 22, I went in for an xray. The surgeon came in and before he could even get the door closed I asked, “How the xray, doc?” He responded my telling me that it looks absolutely wonderful. That I’m a very fast healer for I am much further along than he would have expected and fully cleared me to resume all work duties and everything archer stating, “I know you said that you wanted to be able to start stretch band work, but I see no reason why you can’t start shooting you bow.” - YES!!!!

So, on Saturday, September 24th, 2016 I took my bow out to my backyard and shot arrows for the first time since the first weekend of March. After seven (7) long months and one major surgery I was shooting again. Ok, it was only at 5 meters, but still - one has to start somewhere!!

Oh, and did I mention that I’m starting fresh this fall with my Recurve as opposed to my Compound bow......Yup, I am. The plan before all this with my wrist was to switch over to Recurve this fall and give it a real go. Let’s see where this journey takes me. And if you want to know, well, you’ll just have to follow along to find out. ;)

[tinatassoarcher]

As We Enter 2016

As we begin 2016, I thought I would take a few moments to reflect back over 2015. If you've read any of my previous posts then you know a little, but for those that haven't...

I had hoped to start out the New Year with my new bow, but due to some delays that didn’t happen. So the year started out with me using my Hoyt Contenders through Indoor Season. This year was packed with a number of firsts:

Right off in January I drove up to Lancaster, PA for the Lancaster Archery Classic. It’s the first tournament that I participated in where the X-ring counted as 11. That took a little getting used to.  Met a wonderful man (Scott Starnes) who willingly helped me navigate through the tournament; he was also my shooting mate on our target bale. Mom even remarked that it was like looking at her parents up there. Mr. Starnes is so tall he could easily rest his elbow on the top of my head. I had a great time.

In February dad and I drove out to Las Vegas for The Vegas Shoot. The sheer size of the tournament was a little over whelming at first, but in the end I had another great time. A little comedy came from this trip as my 3 day total came to 876, which in happen stance was the number of entries in my division. Hey, I got a point for each one of us.

March held my best tournament to date, dropping only 4 points at the NFAA National Indoor Championships in Louisville, KY. Now that Indoor Season has come to a close, what’s in store for outdoor season one might ask? Well, let’s back up just slightly, shall we…

A couple of days after I returned home from Vegas I got a call that my new bow had arrived. A beautiful Royal Blue Hoyt Podium X Elite with Spiral Cams. As it came out of the box I had it fitted with brand new tri-color (Red, White & Blue) strings. Several people warned me that going from GTX Cams on my Hoyt Contenders to the Spiral Cams on the new Hoyt Podium would take some getting used to. Ok, a challenge lay ahead. Challenge met and conquered. It ended up not taking long to adjust to the Spiral Cams. 

First big tournament on the schedule was USAT Qualifier Series – Arizona Cup. So my brand new bow and I took our first flight together as we flew out to Phoenix, AZ. Again, a little over-whelming, but held my own and shot my average placing me 24th in the qualifying rounds. I won my first round in the ORs and lost the second to Danielle Reynolds (little skunk beat me again, good for you, keep up the great work). But the fun wasn’t over, I was asked to join a team for the team rounds. Poor kids, they had to explain everything to me as I had never shot in a team round event at all. They must have explained things pretty well for we took the silver. Thanks for an amazing experience Dahlia Crook and Breanna Theodore.

Next up right away – Gator Cup. Gator Cup was not a first for this year as I participated in this event last year, but it was my best outdoor finish to date placing 8th in my division. My new bow had been out for the box for a month and I’m already doing better in my shooting, but at the same time still middle of the ranks.

In May I attended a Level 1 & Level 2 Instructor Training class. I figured if I could learn more of how to teach someone to shoot maybe I could improve my own shooting. I definitely understood the shot process a whole lot more. And it did help improve my shooting somewhat, at least it was enough to take first place and set a new record in the GBAA State Target Double 900 round later that month. But I came to the conclusion that I still needed more than me to coach me. So I started searching for a coach…

While the search for a coach progressed, I participated in USA Archery’s Outdoor Nationals. I struggled. I struggled a lot. I encountered several hiccups that I had never experienced thus far. The biggest of these hiccups were the weather delays. Lesson learned. Do better planning for something to do during weather delays. Even though I had struggles I did shoot well enough to earn my World Archery 1200 Performance Pin.

Shortly after Outdoor Nationals the search for a coach came to a close when I started working with Level 4 NTS Coach Rodney Estrada. I have learned a lot in the short 5 months that we’ve been working together. I have adjusted my form more to the NTS system (although, he just can’t seem to do anything about my feet position. Too many decades for baseball and softball ingrained in that stance, but he has managed to work around it.) I have learned a whole lot in the form of equipment maintenance. It feels really good to not only know why something works the way it does, but how to fix it if something goes wonky.

We both learned something new when it came time to switch over from Outdoor Season to Indoor Season. We figured that we would leave the Hoyt Podium X set up for Outdoor and switch back to using the Hoyt Contenders for Indoor. Boy, was that an eye open. Those poor things felt like foreign objects in my hands. I don’t want to do the poor little things any injustice by listing off the things that were wrong, because none of them were the bows fault. It was more of combination of the bows in my hands. We just didn’t fit together anymore. But the story has a happy ending for them, as I found them a good home with someone in whose hands they fit much better. They will be happy shooting arrows and another archer has equipment to step to the line and shoot with. I call that a win – win.

So the Podium is now setup for Indoor Season sporting some freshly made strings (Thanks to Scott Ford), a new speed slide, new AirShox, new arrow rest and new Easton X23s Limited Edition arrows. Now, let’s see what 2016 has in store….

[tinatassoarcher]

Archery -  ALONE vs COACHED

I first picked up a bow in February of 2013 and I was instantly hooked. I ordered my first bow (thanks Hoyt) and the shop got it all set up for me and I began this long journey of shooting archery. After a bit I purchased a sight (thanks Axcel Sights) and I began shooting straighter and with more accuracy. That fall I entered into the 25 Meter Fall Classic. I shot a 1081 and people were a bit amazed given that I was shooting with no stabilizers. Well, for the last eight months I had been shooting without them. I didn’t see what all the hub-bub was. But I had been saving up anyways to buy a set. When I had the money together I ordered them. It took a couple of weeks, but when they came in mom went with me to get them and low and behold she paid for them. She said they were my Christmas present. She said I just needed to wrap them up and put them under the tree so everyone else could be surprised by them. Deal. It was less than a week before Christmas, so I wrapped them up and put them under the tree. Christmas morning came and SURPRISE! I got stabilizers for my bow. Everyone cheered - because that’s what happens in my family and that afternoon I was out in the back yard practicing with them on my bow.

Practice, practice and more practice. It got to the point that I was tired of fighting the traffic to just go to the range to shoot, I just couldn’t see the point in paying a range fee to shoot when I could shoot for free in my backyard. A mom of one of my little JOAD friends had dubbed my backyard as the “Lone Wolf Range”. I liked it, so it has stuck. When it got to be warmer out and outdoor season kicked in, he and his parents would come over and we’d practice together. It was actually kind of easy given that I could mark off to about 75 meters or 80 yards in the yard (further if we don’t mind standing in the middle of the subdivision street). Since I was shooting Compound and he was shooting Recurve I didn’t have to measure off more than 60 meters. Plenty of room for us to practice.

In spite of all the practicing I had done I realized I had kind of reached a plateau in regards to my shooting. So the internet became a frequented friend. I would watch YouTube videos of how other archers would shoot. Archers like Jesse Broadwater, Lexi Keller, Bridger Deaton, Jake Kaminski and Brady Elison. Yes, I even watched Recurve archers. There is always something to be learned from everywhere. I started incorporating some of the things I would see them do into my own shooting. And my scores began going up.

On the local level I was doing pretty good, but I found that when I would go to bigger events like NFAA Indoor Nationals in Kentucky or Gator Cup in Newberry, FL, I was still missing something. That missing something was keeping me from being on the top of the list, standing on the podium and receiving medals. So I would go back to watching more videos and practicing, but I wasn’t figuring it out.

One day this past Spring I found out that Carl Greene was conducting a Level 1 and Level 2 Instructor Seminar in Newberry, FL. I decided to sign up for the seminar, not so much as to become an instructor; but to get more informed and have a better understanding of what a coach would look for in an archer’s form and shot technique. To hopefully understand more from the non-archer’s point of view. It was enlightening. I understand a lot more now. And with my visual mind I am able to take what I saw and experienced in the class and translate it into my own movement - to a point. I still can’t see what my back is doing or see what my release elbow is doing or see what my head is doing. I can feel them doing things, but without being able to see them how do I know what I’m feeling is right??

That brings me to the point that I am at now. I need a coach. So I started making a list of the coaches in the area. Making a list of things I know I will need from them. Such as: Am I comfortable being around them, What are their rates, Where are they located, What kind of traffic will have to deal with in order to get to a lesson, Are they going to be able to work with me to translate what they want to say into a visual that my brain will interpret so I can recreate, Are we going to be comfortable with each other so he/she will be honest with me (even if I’m doing something seriously wrong - I’d rather be told I’m doing something wrong so I can work on stopping than to just be told what I should be doing.) It was a long list of things I knew I was going to need from the coach as I’m sure there is a long list a coach he/she has before deciding to take on a student.

With my list of criteria and my list of coaches in hand I began the task of matching up coach’s names with the criteria list. Some coaches got crossed off right away mostly because I knew I wouldn’t be able to work with them. If I’m not comfortable with someone the relationship isn’t going to go anywhere. I whittled the list down to three: two here in Georgia and one in Florida. All three matched up pretty well with my list most importantly being that I’m very comfortable with them and their coaching styles. So it started coming down to some of the smaller things like location: am I going to drive a long distance for a short lesson or a shorter distance and get more out of the lesson. Things like that.

Now I’m to my stage of approaching them to see if they are open to taking on any new students. Keeping in mind I already know a lot about these people and they have very busy lives. What I want just might not equal up to what they want or can give. And if at this point you are thinking that all of this must have taken forever - well, you should experience what I go through when I research for buying a new car (the last one took me six months to get to the test drive stage). Doing my research on these coaches didn’t take as long.

All three were willing to talk, but one asked questions. Tough questions. Questions that made me sit down and seriously think about my answers. Answers that ended up being a one or two typed pages long (typed mind you. I wanted to work with these guys not make them go blind trying to read my tiny hand writing). The more this one coach asked questions and made me think about my answers the more I wanted to work with this one.

[I have become very good at listening even when people don’t think I am. Keep in mind that everyone everywhere likes to put others down. If I listened to everything that was being said about every coach out there I wouldn’t work with any of them. So instead I rely on how an individual treats me and me alone. Not how they treat others. Stories can be embellished to suit ones purpose.]

Some of the things being said about the coach that was first on my list to work with were true. He’s gruff. He blunt. He speaks his mind. He tells it like it is. He tells you the truth even if it hurts. He tells you what you are doing wrong, not just what you should be doing. GREAT!!! That’s what I want in a coach. All these things that people would say about him as reason to stay away from him are the very things I consider strong attributes and I want in someone who is going to coach me.

We decided to get together for a - try out, if you will. We started out just chatting. The longer we sat there chatting the better I felt being around him and the more I would talk (and if anyone truly knows me, they know I am not one for doing a whole lot of talking). Then he had me shoot some arrows in a strategic form. He watched from several different angles. Three plus hours later he gave me the great news of that he would like to take me on as a student. I said, “Great! Now what am I doing wrong?” He said he was happy to report it wasn’t all me. In watching me shoot he found that I was shooting to the left. He speculated that it could be an alignment problem with my limbs or an alignment problem with the arrow rest. He suggested that since the bow I’m currently shooting with (a beautiful Royal Blue Hoyt Podium X) is still under warranty, that I should take it to where I bought it and have them check it out. The rest we’ll work on once the bow is in order. I’m happy to report that the limb are just fine and that it was the arrow rest that was out of alignment and causing me to shoot left.

With my bow tuned and shooting straight, now comes the arduous task of fixing/correcting all the little problems and working towards a better form and shot execution. Thanks Coach Estrada for taking me on and working with me to fix all my problems - well, at least fix all my archery problems.......

[tinatassoarcher]

131st U.S. National Target Championships

The 4th of July weekend of 2015 was the 131st U.S. National Target Championships held in Decatur, Alabama. Outdoor Nationals is a must for any archer working towards a USAT ranking. Arizona Cup I finished 15th in my division. Gator Cup I finished 8th in my division. I was in hopes of continuing the climbing trend at Outdoor Nationals, but in the end it was not to be. In fact, Outdoor Nationals was my worst tournament of the year. I packed and prepared for extreme heat and humidity, but what we all experienced was storms after storms after storms. Everyday there were weather delays. Now don’t get me wrong. USA Archery did a great job of watching the weather and worked hard to keep all us archers safe. No one can control Mother Nature, but whomever ticked her off can you please not do that again.... She rolled thunderstorms through the area like a freight train and as everyone knows, when you have thunderstorms you have lightning and it was because of these lightning strikes that we had so many delays.

On Wednesday, I arrived at the field after my 4+ hour drive from Georgia to be immediately told to get back in my car because the field was closed due to thunderstorms. Well, there went getting any practice in. I didn’t even get to check in or my equipment inspected. I did get lucky in that I found a judge that was polite enough to talk to me. I explained that all I wanted to do was get checked in and my equipment inspected because I was scheduled to shoot first thing Thursday morning. He said not to worry. To get to the field at about 6:30 in the morning and to come see him and he’d get me checked in and get my equipment inspected before official practice started.

Out of the entire weekend, Thursday was the best run day. I got up, had my breakfast and headed to the field to find the judge I had talked to the day before. He and others got me checked in and my equipment checked so I was now official and ready to participate in the tournament. Now that that weight had been lifted all I had to do now was shoot. I shot ok. My average. Since my dad and my uncle made the trip with me, when I was done shooting for the day we went and got some lunch, back to the hotel to clean up and then used one of the perks in the tournament goody bag - a coupon for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. I love doing things like this. Experiencing something of the local area. All three of us were like little kids. Playing and experiencing everything from the blending wall to the throwing suction balls to the climbing wall. Ok, I experienced the climbing wall while my dad and uncle watched from the bench. It was a blast.

Thursday was the worst day. Weather delays abound. I was slated to shoot the afternoon line, but the morning line had so many delays I was beginning to wonder. They finally called a break for lunch and said they would plan for the morning line to start at 1pm with a hard stop of 4pm and the afternoon line would plan to start at 4:30pm with a hard stop on 9pm. The irony in this is when everyone scattered for lunch, the weather was actually pretty nice. Not blue sky nice, but not thundering and lightning. When 1pm rolled around and the morning line started shooting it also started raining. Mather Nature!! What are you going to do with her... Luckily for everyone, the weather didn’t do much more that rain the rest of the day. The morning line had to use their hard stop of 4pm and most of the archers only got to 42 or 48 arrows depending on which field they were on. Us on the afternoon line did get all of our 72 arrows in, but me personally, I would have rather not shot at all. I did horrible. Of course, the rain makes your arrows shoot lower than where you were aiming - but the wind. Boy, the wind was really tough to gauge. I found that the wind strength was different at the the target than it was on us at the the line. I was even tougher given that the wind didn’t change from end to end - it would often change from arrow to arrow. You’d line up a shot thinking the wind would push the arrow only to find out the arrow didn’t drift at all and would in fact land exactly where you aimed it. The next shot total opposite. Then it got dark and they turned the lights for the field on. This put the targets in a bit of a shadow for the lights were trained to shine on the field not the edge where our targets were. By this time, I admit, all I wanted was food, shower and my bed. I have a sneaking suspicion I wasn’t alone. I had shot so poorly and was so tired I was truly happy when we scored our last arrows and we could all leave the field. I do have to say that us compound women did do a great job of entertaining each other and doing our best to keep smiles on our faces in spite of all the weather delays and other problems of the day. It was really great spending two days shooting with old friends and making new ones.

Saturday dawns a new day. Today are ORs. I get to the field and to find out my first match in the 1/16th round is against one of my closest friend in the circuit. I started out strong with a 29, but then 26, 26, 26, 27 and thought for sure I was going to be packing up and heading home. But as it turned out I won by 2 points. So now I’m on to my nemesis round - the 1/8th. I have yet to find a way to get past this round. Usually in this round I’m up against Danielle Reynolds, but this time I’m up against Paige Pearce. We were both shooting strong. I even had a 30 on one end, but when things were all tallied up - the dreaded 1/8 round had gotten me again. I will beat this round one day, but this Independence Day was not going to be that day. Paige beat me by 2 points. Congratulations Paige, good luck in the next round!! My first Outdoor Nationals has come to an end. Now all is left is the drive home, but first a shower....

The drive home was actually kind of nice. We took the northerly route up through Chattanooga, TN and down into Georgia. Then took the back roads of the North Georgia Mountains. And what a drive that was. Windy, curvy roads. Windows rolled down. Country music cranked up. The cool, post rain air rushing in the open windows. As far as I’m concerned - the best way to rejuvenate the soul......

[tinatassoarcher]

2015 GBAA State Double 900

This past weekend (May 16th and 17th) GBAA held their 2015 State Event as a Double 900 round down in Perry, GA. Seeing as most of the first quarter of the year has been non-stop travel for tournaments, I opted to give my credit card a break and not get a hotel room. And since I didn’t want to drive down there twice, I registered to shoot the entire event in one day. I know, I know. I know exactly what most of you are thinking - “You have got to be nuts!” The answer is - “YES!” It made Saturday an extremely long day, but I had a blast.

Hey, I got to see Atlanta traffic at its lightest. Even though there were a few people out on the highway at 5:00am, it was still a very easy commute down through I-85 to I-285 to I-675 and finally merging on to I-75. A completely whole other experience than trying to transverse those roads say at 4:00pm on a Friday afternoon.

                        Photo Courtesy of John Chandler (LOGA)

The event had 4 shooting times to register for. Saturday or Sunday at 9:00am or Saturday or Sunday at 2:00pm. I chose to shoot both round on Saturday at 9:00am and 2:00pm. I had to do a little sight adjusting on the fly as I forgot GBAA does most of their shoots in Yards instead of Meters. But I think I adjusted just fine. I was really looking forward to this tournament because it was going to be the first wearing my new ArcherZUpshot Pro Staff Shooter Jersey. In fact, when I arrived on the field, my friend Lee Ford was wearing her new ArcherZUpshot Jersey too. I had a feeling it was going to be a great day…

The tournament had a roster of 47 archers (which made me laugh because that’s how many were in my high school graduation class). It’s funny how things can connect you to another time in your life.

The GBAA records for my division for a Double 900 Round was 1686 and like other times in my life I had that number written on the back of my hand, for it was the goal for the day. Of course, I took each shot as its own entity, but I was also striving for the end result for the day being breaking that record. Only after the last arrow was shot would I truly know. I had a little trouble in the morning shoot given that I was doing sight adjustments from Meters to Yards on the fly. But I still shot 274, 282 and 288 for an 844 which was a personal best from the 900 shoots I participated in last summer. Then, for my own little mind game, I decided to calculate that score times 2 to get 1688 and found that if I just shoot my first round again I’ll break the record.

Now time for the afternoon shoot… First up 60 yards. I still had more 8 than I would have liked to have seen, but only dropped 1 extra point from the morning shoot to end with a 273. Ok, 60 yards is done; now on to 50 yards. I just kept drumming in my head, one shot at a time… one shot at a time… Next thing I knew we were done shooting at 50 yards and I had scored a 285 (up 3 points from this distance in the morning shoot and I gained the point I had dropped at 60 yards). Ok, take a deep breath and let’s tackle 40 yards…. We just keep plugging along, shot after shot until we were done. After 180 arrows (plus practice arrows) I have completed my first ever Double 900 Round. I added up my score for the 40 yards and I shot a personal best out of any of the 900 shoots I’ve been in, scoring a 295 and a total of 853 for this 900 round. I’m very happy with that. Then it hits me!! And yes folks, if you’ve been doing that addition right along then you are ahead of me. 853 is higher than 844 and all I needed was another 844 to break the record. So with a grand total of 1697 on the day, I just shot a new GBAA State Double 900 Round Record!!!! What a day. New shooter shirt! First Double 900 Round! And I not only shot a new record, but it’s the first time I have shot a record in any tournament!!! And I got to shoot this tournament and record surrounded by a large number of friends. What else could a girl ask for??  Ok, maybe to shoot less 8s, but I’m working on that.

[tinatassoarcher]

Support from Outside of Archery

I was recently named as a Pro Shooter with ArcherZUpshot. On Friday, May 8th, my shooter shirt came in the mail. It looks sweet with all the usual vendor logos. Most archers work hard to get picked up by one of these vendors as a staff/pro shooter. To get the big contracts from such companies such as Hoyt, Mathews, PSE, Carbon Express and/or Easton. To be able to access to the best, latest and greatest equipment to hit the market. To hook up with some of the other vendors such as Bohning, BCY, Specialty Archery or Brite Site for discounts and a few freebies, but mostly for the knowledge of the equipment out there to pass along to the next generation of archers coming into the sport. That’s not the case here. I am profoundly honored that Fern Slack at ArcherZUpshot has taken a chance on me and including me as part of her team. As much as I would love all of that other stuff in my archery orbit, I’m ok with that. If it’s to be, it will be.

But there is one logo on my shirt that is not part of the archery world…

I do have an extremely large support system. Who else out there can say that they have over 3000 (give or take a couple hundred or so) members of an organization who main goal is to help/support others. But support others in what you are probably asking…. I am a proud member of the largest all women’s hiking and backing organization in the country – this group is called “Trail Dames”! Trail Dames was started by my best friend Anna ‘Mud Butt’ 'Grand Pooh-Bah’ Huthmaker after she hiked more than 700 miles of the historic Appalachian Trail which runs North and South along the east coast. You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal? There are hundreds of hiking groups out there.” Well, this group is a big deal. It was started on the soul purpose of helping overweight women get out into the great outdoors in a safe and encouraging environment. No one is ever too slow, can be recently relocated, widowed, students, retired, or even recovering from an injury. It doesn’t matter in this group as to where you come from, what you’re going through - the only commonality is that everyone loves the outdoors. The members of Trail Dames spend time not only hiking and backing on trails near and far, but work on educating by sharing information on trail etiquette and hiking techniques to sponsoring the first ever all women’s 'The Summit’. 'The Summit’ is a 3 day conference which soul purpose is for the more experienced to share and educate the newer members on how to safely enter the woods so they can have the best adventure possible. We have thousands of members spanning 15 chapters, from the east coast to the west coast and the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.

Fern wrote in my bio for the AZU web page, “When not shooting (photos or arrows), Tina can usually be found — well, she can’t be found because she’s backpacking.” Well, if you listen hard enough you just might be able to find me… in the back of the pack. I’ll be the one taking pictures, and listening to and telling stories because I will be with any number of these wonderful women enjoying all the beauty this earth has to offer. When I’m at a tournament and you see a logo on my shirt that you don’t recognize, feel free to stop me and ask for it’s the logo for Trail Dames. And if for some reason you are at a tournament and you don’t see me, don’t worry I’ll be back. I just needed to answer the call of the wild, take a path a little less traveled and some time with friends as we Dance Upon This Earth!!!

In the mean time, if you want to find out more about this great app that Fern and husband Marc have produced - head on over to www.archerzupshot.com. 

If you want to know more about Trail Dames - head on over to www.traildames.com.

And if you think you might like to experience Trail Dames for yourself, but you’re not sure if you’re ready to just hit the trail - head on over to www.traildamessummit.com. Our next Summit will be held in July of 2016. Maybe I’ll see you there or on the trail, but until then see you at the next tournament!

[tinatassoarcher]

Gator Cup April 2015

Gator Cup 2015 has come and gone and it was another found of firsts and seconds for a tournament.

The seconds are: It was my second trip to the Gator Cup. It was my second USAT Series event of the year. It was my second tournament of helping coach my friends Alex and Adam. They are such great kids and they are working their tails off and become exceptional archers.

For the firsts: Ok, this is going to be a huge shock to all those who truly know me, but this was the first event I did not take a single photograph at. With competing in the tournament myself and helping to coach my friends Alex and Adam, I never took the camera out at all. I know, I know – take a moment to pick your jaws up off the floor. When the whole weekend was said and done – I was in shock too.

The other first for this tournament was I signed up to try out for the World Team. I have been shooting archery for a little over two years now and I wanted to see how I would measure up to those who are most often seen at the top of the charts. It all began with the qualification round on Friday afternoon. I unfortunately hadn’t practiced since Arizona Cup. With catching up on work that had piles up while I was in Arizona and all the thunder storms, tornado warning and being whisked away to the work tornado shelter as cells pasted overhead – practice unfortunately got pushed to the back burner. So I went into the Gator Cup Tournament determined to do the best that I can. For the most part I am very happy with my shooting and my score this past weekend. Don’t get me wrong – yes, there were definitely a few shots where you just go, “Dang it! Why did I have to shoot that?” But once they are shot they are gone – on to the next arrow. Live and learn. I shot a 654 with 9 Xs and 12 10s and actually having a very close tie with another archer. I asked the official and the head of USA Archery on site if there would be any reason later in the tournament for a shoot off. I was told that ties would be broken by Xs and 10s – I’m thinking, ok, the other archer beat with 10s. I know where I sit ranking wise. Now just to find out how other did in relation to who had signed up for the World Team Trials (WTT). Finding out how I compare to those going out for the WTT is the goal for this weekend. To judge for myself how I match up with those whose name are normally at the top of the ranking lists.

After Friday’s qualifications I was ranked 24st combined (juniors and seniors). If you take the juniors out I was ranked 8th in the Senior Division and ranked 6th in the Senior Division for those who signed up for WTT. Not bad! Not bad at all. Of course, there were a few juniors who signed up for the WTT as well and when I added those who I knew were on the entry list that dropped me down to 8th. Still not too bad! Now this is where it gets a little squirrelly. There were rumors floating around that USA Archery was allowing some to sign up at check in. Ok, I can understand that, but since no one posted anything that leaves everyone wondering just what is going on and where they stand. Then there were more rumors going around that there were people signing up after they shot their qualification round. I’m sorry, but I have a bit of a problem with that. All through Saturday nothing was being announced and again on Sunday nothing. I have to admit I was getting a little frustrated. One of my coaching friends knew that a higher positioned employee from USA Archery had flown out to help with some of the problems that were developing throughout the weekend. He introduced me to her and I asked for an update as to the status of the Senior WTT. She brought me into the trailer and looked up the spreadsheet with the list which included: Crystal Gauvin, Jamie Van Natta, Paige Pearce, Emily Bee, Danielle Reynolds, Lexi Keller, Easter Brock and Rhonda Shaner (but since Rhonda and I tied for raw score they said they were going to have a 1 arrow shoot off to determine who got the 8th spot). I decided to make things easy and since I knew Rhonda had beat me in 10s during qualifications – I opted to concede leaving Rhonda to have the 8th spot to round out the top 8 of archers to shoot in the Round Robbins on Monday. I even drew up an email right in front of the USA Archery employee stating my concession to Rhonda and watched as it was received on her phone and then I left the field and the state to go home. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that USA Archery had added yet another name to the list and placing (*) next to Rhonda’s name (now 9th) and mine (now 10th) and wanting us to be on the field to shoot the Round Robbins on Monday morning. All of this being posted in a Facebook post at 11:27pm Sunday night at which time I was just arriving home and crawling into bed in hope of going to work and salvaging some of my PTO time for another event. Knowing that the rankings are determined on a point system I can only hope that me not being there does not mess things up for the other archers. For I left the tournament believing that the top 8 archers had been determined and that I was not among them.

In spite of the problems with the scoring and the weather and information flow in regards to ranking status – I had a great weekend. I got to see old friends and meet new ones. I got to participate in a fun team shoot again, this time with my friends Lesley and Angie (and given that I was the experienced one of the team, having only shot a team event just recently in Arizona) I think we did pretty darn well. We made it to the Bronze medal match, which we unfortunately lost, but it was a wealth of information and a great learning experience. HECK – IT WAS FOR FUN!!! And fun I had. Until the next tournament – shoot straight and kill Xs!!!!!!

[tinatassoarcher]

Arizona Cup April 2015

The start to Outdoor Season 2015 began with several firsts.

1)      On Tuesday, April 7th I boarded a Delta flight with my archery equipment for the first time. I was none too happy to find when I got to Phoenix that TSA had rummaged through the bag, but my thoughts on that can wait for another time all together.

2)      It was my first trip to the Arizona dessert for an archery tournament. One finds out real quick that the desert heat and winds change the way you view and shoot at the target.

3)      I participated in my first fun team shoot. I had never done a team round before and all I could do was pray that I wouldn’t mess things up for my teammates.

4)      Arizona Cup was the first event that I was awarded Media credentials through USA Archery and was permitted to don the Orange Media Vest.

5)      I got to help coach a friend as he progressed his way through the cadet rounds. Helping him judge the winds and locating his shots.

I obviously have a lot to learn about traveling with my archery equipment. When I got to the airport I found out my gear bag was overweight. Something that now I know I can most definitely fix for the next time.

Now on to the fun part of the adventure – The Arizona Cup!! Compound Women and Recurve Men were up first Wednesday morning. I shot pretty well, putting me qualifying 24th (or as a friend pointed out to me – 15th without the Juniors mixed in and 7th once the international archery were removed). Ok, if you look at it that way – I did pretty dang good for my first Arizona Cup. But the 24th placement is what was used for the OR rounds. Since they took the top 48 into the ORs, being 24th put me up against number 41. So another first was that I won my first OR on this trip. Any other time I’ve been in an OR at a tournament of this caliber was last year’s Gator Cup in Florida. So on to the second round of ORs and up against whom? The very same girl who beat me at last year’s Gator Cup, and you guessed it, she beat me again. I do not like this pattern, but that just means I have more work to do; but also shows that I have come further than I have in the past and am obviously making progress. Progress is good. Don’t get me wrong, the girl that beat is very sweet and polite. And if you are going to lose to anyone it might as well be to someone who will make it fun and help you learn along the way. I’m not a fan of losing, but she made it a great learning and fun experience. I’d rather lose that way than to someone who won’t even talk to you as they kick your butt….

During the qualification rounds on Wednesday, I was asked to join a couple of other girls to participate in a fun team shoot scheduled for Thursday morning. Well, there went my one and only morning to sleep in because I said yes. I thought it only fair that I make it very clear that I had never done this before, and as it happened one of the other girls had never shot a team round before either. The one girl who had participated in a team round before was great at explaining things. We got together and she went step-by-step on how things went. As it turned out we were a pretty dang good team. Next thing we knew we were in the Gold/Silver match. We unfortunately lost that match, but in the end we considered ourselves winners for making it as far as we did for having two newbies on the team. We worked and communicated really well and I learned a lot. So much so that I look forward to participating in a team round again. In fact, a couple of friends and I are already looking to team up for the fun shoot in Florida at this month’s Gator Cup. Making my first podium visit placing second during my first team event, at my first Arizona Cup with my new Hoyt Podium X Elite at its first tournament with two great girls as teammates - I’m going to have to say is going to be one of my most favorite memories.

Anyone that knows me at all knows that the absolute first thing I pack for any trip is my camera. No matter where I’m going for what I’ll be doing, the camera is packed first. All the smaller/local tournaments I’ve attended I’ve done a lot of shooting – first arrows and then photos. Then I share those photos on a Facebook page. Well, after several emails back and forth with USA Archery I was granted media privileges for this year’s Arizona Cup.  I took over 600 photos while at the Arizona Cup – most being of the cadets during their shooting time on Thursday afternoon and the Gold/Silver medal matches on Saturday. I would have gladly taken more, but I couldn’t take photos and help friend out at the same time… which leads me into my last ‘first’ of the trip.

My little buddy Alex has a coach that he goes to in Florida, but his coach was not going to be able to be in Arizona. So I bought the credentials with the express intent of helping my friend out. Now as a compound archer I will be the first to tell you I’m not verse on recurve technique, but I really didn’t have to be. Alex knows how to shoot his recurve bow, but what he needed was someone to tell him where is arrows were going and help judge the wind – and I could do that. Most importantly, I could be that someone who he trusts to just be there for support. I am a firm believer that every athlete needs encouragement – good encouragement. Someone there with a familiar and calming voice to just say, “You’ve got this. Your body knows the form. This is what the wind is doing, aim for about here, trust yourself and to keep reaching through your shot. You can do this. Stay strong.” He didn’t go all the way through the ORs, but he did reach his goal of making to the 1/8 round and getting at least a point against the person he was competing against. Next time who’s to say he won’t win it all!!! Ok, he’s my friend and I’ve VERY biased about it, but I really think he can do it and I’ll be so happy to watch him shoot for the stars!

As it turned out a friend of Alex’s, and fellow archer of the same coach in Florida, requested I help him during his match on Saturday. This time I needed more help than just being there to spur on the support. Thankfully, Coach Carl was able to help me help Adam via text. Thanks to Coach Carl, I was able to help Adam through his ¼ final, Semifinal and Bronze medal matches. Adam did great and as with Alex I see these two via for podium slots in the future. As Coach Carl said in one of his messages, “There is plenty of room at the top!”

As I look back on the first major tournament of Outdoor Season I can only say this: It was an absolute blast, I learned and experience a lot from an archer’s stand point, a photographer’s stand point and even a bit from a coach’s stand point; and from here I can only grow and cannot wait until the next tournament!!

[tinatassoarcher]

First Outdoor Tournament of 2015

Saturday, March 28th, I participated in my first Outdoor Tournament of 2015 down at the Easton Newberry Archery Center. I didn’t do all that great score wise, shooting a 301 in the first half and a 284 in the second half (with 2 misses). Even though the scores may not have shown it, it was actually a pretty good day. I earned my first achievement award (yellow ribbon & pendant). It was quite cold for a Florida day with wind speeds high in mph and gusts even higher; and even with the couple of misses (thanks to those pesky wind gusts) I consider the tournament a successful one. Why? You might ask. Well, the answer is easy. This was my first tournament with “Twister”, my new Hoyt Podium X. Considering I didn’t start shooting my new Podium until after Louisville, all my shots with “Twister” felt great. So as long as the shots feel great, I can work on the location of where the arrows hit (in spite of the wind). I think “Twister” has earned her spot as my #1 bow and will be making the trip to Arizona with me. Now to see how she does in the Arizona desert wind.....

[tinatassoarcher]

Celebrating Women in History Month

Last week I received a text from my sister, “Hey! I have a favor to ask...” Now be honest, what was your first thought - yup that was mine too; “Oi!” Well, the favor ended up being that her office was celebrating Women In History Month and the employees were asked to submit stories about women they know. Given that a lot of the stories being written were of people’s mothers, grandmothers and spouses. She decided she wanted to do something different. She wanted to submit a story about her big sis. Needless to say the “Oi!” quickly changed to a “Wow!”. I said, “Sure. What do you want to know?” She asked a few questions and, considering I still live at home, she asked if I could go through the old photo albums and send her a few pictures.

The story that she wrote was this:

Jennifer wrote:

I have one sibling, my sister, Tina, who is 3 1/2 years older than me.  It's hard to imagine finding two people who come from the same genetic source who are so completely different.

My sister was always a tomboy.  While I enjoyed playing with Barbie dolls and Cabbage Patch Kids and dressing up like a princess, my sister's hobbies included collecting action figures and Matchbox cars, skateboarding and building model cars and planes.  I took dance and gymnastics classes and joined the cheerleading squad, whereas my sister played softball and baseball and fought to play soccer.  At the time, my school had no girls soccer team, so she petitioned the school board to be able to play on the boys soccer team--the first girl to ever do so!  (Our school now has varsity & JV girls soccer teams, but it took another 7 years after my sister graduated before they were formed.)

She went to aeronautics school and has flown a plane solo.  She then went to school for computers and has built computers from spare parts.  She is an avid photographer and has sold some of her photos (and also served as photographer for my wedding!)  She recently took up archery and has traveled all over the country for various competitions.  She was just named as one of the 2015-2016 ArcherZUpshot PRO STAFF.  You can see her bio at this link:http://www.archerzupshot.com/azu-pro-staff/

My big sister has never been the "traditional" big sister, which I'm sure most people think of when they picture sisters growing up together.  She didn't teach me how to do my hair or nails or to put on makeup.  She didn't wear a lot of feminine clothes and shoes, so I was never compelled to "borrow" them from her closet :)  And she didn't teach me about boys and dating.

However, my sister taught me how to swim and dive and helped me learn to waterski.  She taught me how to throw a baseball, how to climb trees, and how to break the rules once in a while (nothing too bad!)  She also taught me how to thwart off bullies and to defend myself.

When my family went out somewhere in public, like a restaurant, people called my sister 'little fellow', 'sir', 'Mr.'  -- and 'old chap' by one gentleman in Scotland.  My mother would always get upset and correct them: "That's my daughter!!"  But my sister always just laughed it off, saying, "That's ok, it happens all the time."

I've seen my sister be strong and keep fighting, even when life was taking some of its hardest swings.  She's displayed an amazing amount of courage and resilience in spite of life's adversities.  The most important thing my sister ever taught me was not to worry about what other people think; that it's more important to be true to yourself.

She recently posted two quotes to her Facebook page that I think are very appropriate:

"The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.  The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before." ~ Albert Einstein

"I tried to be normal, worst 5 minutes of my life!" ~ Disney minion

Photo 1: My sister with the boys soccer team after winning the Homecoming game against our rival neighboring school Photo 2: My sister and I waterskiing together at our camp in Maine as kids.

She was right. We were two sister that couldn’t have been more different. For as much as she says she has learned from me - I have learned from her. This is the girl who spent the year following high school travelling around the world with a group called Up With People. She spent another year travelling around the world, spending the first few months living and working in Australia. She is a very courageous young woman. Using a lot of that courage learning to drive a standard in Australia on (what us Americans would call) the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road and in a car with a broken speedometer. When her time was done in Australia, she continued west and backpacked around Europe. Through her travels she kept journals. She once told me it helped remind her of where she had been, what she had seen and the people she had met (a really good one for me, for I am extremely terrible with names). She was the scholar of the family and with that book smarts she taught me how to study. It didn’t work so well with my English or French classes, but I got a lot better is all my other classes.

We may have never played dolls together or played sports together. We picked on each other and argued and fought a lot, but we also learned to laugh a lot - at each other and with each other.

One thing we have learned to share is our love to travel. Both of us have passports full of cancellation stamps, with one major difference: Her stamps are in her United States of American passport and mine are in my National Parks passport! 

[tinatassoarcher]

Between Seasons in 2015

I’ve been shooting archery for just over two years now and in the last year I’ve started to get into some of the bigger (requiring more travel) tournaments. As I sit here 3 days post IndoorNationals in Louisville, KY (which I attended for the second year in a row) Ifind it a little hard to believe Indoor Season has come to a close. Last year someone asked me, “What are you going to do now that archery season is over?” I politely informed them that there is ‘NO OFF SEASON IN ARCHERY’, that we are just at the end of Indoor Season and now begins the arduous task of getting ready for Outdoor Season.

Getting ready indeed! I’m getting a lot of things ready for Outdoor Season. I’ve got new tin markers to mark the meters from the target in my back yard. (I got sick of having to go out and re-spray paint the markers every time it came in and rained.) With the removal of a few trees (mostly because they were destroyed in our latest ice storm here in Georgia) I think I can actually get 90 Meters from the target (with a few rolling ups and downs). The builders didn’t know 20 years ago that they needed to make the yard flat for 20 years later I would want to be shooting archery back there. But even with the ups and downs it gives me a good distance to get some practice in. A friend’s mom has dubbed my back yard target as “The Lone Wolf Range”, mostly due to fact that I don’t shoot for any one club. Most of the established ranges here in Georgia are at least an hour away, which makes it tough especially during the week, to get off work and get to the range (any range). So, I do most of my practicing in my back yard - at least it’s close to home! :)

I have finally gotten my new Hoyt Podium. She got her new BCY strings put on last night, along with everything else need to start firing some arrows. And she shoots like a dream! I still have a little work on the sight to do, but that shouldn’t take too long. The real question is: Am I going to be fully comfortable shooting her, with her smooth spiral cams, in time for the start of outdoor tournaments? Not sure. I might have to Shoot Arizona Cup with my Contender. Even though I won’t be able to go for a National Ranking this year, I still want to be able to perform at my best. In spite of the fact that I’m flying, I will probably take the Podium with me. Since I don’t shoot on Thursday at all, I’ll probably use some of that time to hit the practice range and get more familiar with her.

There is a lot to do in the short period of time from the end of Indoor Season (marked by Indoor Nationals in mid-March) to the beginning of Outdoor Season (starting with Arizona Cup the first full week in April). To be truly honest, I can think of a lot worse things to spend time and money on and not have anywhere near as much fun. I’m loving archery!!

[tinatassoarcher]

Reflections of the First Quarter of 2015

It’s almost the end of March and in the Archery World, that means Indoor Season for 2015 has come to a close.  I got to thinking back on just how fast January, February and March flew by and began to wonder where they went. One gets through the hustle and bustle of the December holidays and get to New Year’s Eve and think, “Ah, a new year. A fresh start to the year and what to do with it?” When January 1st comes it’s like the world hits the ground running. In the Archery World it begins with the Lancaster Classic held by Lancaster Archery Supply in Lancaster, PA. I spent the first two weeks of January practicing and getting ready for Lancaster then loaded up my CRV, and my mom, and spent 12 hours driving to Lancaster. I had made reservation at The Lancaster Host Resort, but 2 hours out I get word from a friend that had already arrived that The Lancaster Host Resort had no hot water due to a boiler problem. Great! The Lancaster Host Resort had told me when I called to check on this that they move my reservations to another hotel… I got to said other hotel and they had no record of my reservations. By now mom and I are extremely tired, very punchy and each in desperate need of a hot refreshing shower and sleep. I remembered passing a Comfort Suites on our way to said other hotel, so I drove back there and took a chance. At first they could accommodate us for Thursday and Friday night, but they were book full for Saturday night. But the woman behind the counter was great and by the time Saturday morning breakfast our stay had been extended to include Saturday night. YES!! We didn’t need to change hotels mid tournament.

Now, as for the tournament it’s self… This was my first trip to the Lancaster Classic and slated to shoot Friday at noon and to say I was nervous is an understatement, but luck would have it I got put on a bale with 3 guys (one of which was Scott Starnes). He was amazing. A smiling, calming demeanor; he joked and laughed with me and even shot on the same line as me. The guy was larger than life in more way than one. I actually didn’t quite realize just how tall he was until a friend took our picture while we were at full draw. He is tall enough, that at full draw could easily rest his elbow on the top of my head – and I’m 5’7”. Having a laugh at this helped easy the nerves even more, and I shot pretty well. Now I didn’t shoot Sarah Lance or Lexi Keller or Crystal Gauvin kind of well, but I shot well for me scoring a 311 and a 302 for a total 613 and 26 11’s. Keeping in mind that I’ve been shooting archery at this point for less than two years, I was happy with my scores (of course, as my dad always say, “You left room for improvement!”) and they did get me into the OR’s on Sunday.

Sunday comes and I’m up against Jessica Shuma, who is currently sitting second with a score of 632. I admit it the nerves were back big time. Now I may be fairly new to archery, but I’m not new to sports and competitions. I started bowling when I was 6 and bowled in lots of state tournaments and Pro-Ams. So I just dug down deep like I always did and focused all my energy on each shot that lay before me. Now trust me, it didn’t do much for the nerves, but it did take my mind off of them a bit. When our match was done we were tied 120-120. A tie! So it came down to 11s and she had 2 more than me. It was a good round – heck a great round. I went toe-to-toe with the number 2 on the day and she beat me by 2 11s. Not too shabby for my first Lancaster Classic. We shook hands and she said, “Great match. You really gave me a run for my money.” I said, “Yes I did, now go do the same with the rest of them. Good luck!” and we parted ways. I did hang around long enough to watch a friend in his second match, but alas, he lost out so mom and I hit the road. Remember, it took 12 hours to get there and so it’ll take 12 hours to get home. But, the first big tournament of the year was in the books. I didn’t come out on top, not everyone can, but I shot well, had fun, met new friends and showed everyone what I could do at the time. Heck, I made it into the ORs and lost the first round by 2 11s, I think I made a mark (all be it – a tiny mark), but a mark. At least that’s how I play it in my mind. So, Lancaster Classic is over, now what? Vegas baby, Vegas!!

The Vegas Shoot in Las Vegas, NV! What’s that saying, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” Well, I’m happy to tell you what happened in Vegas. Up first, I drove to Vegas. Up, it’s 2000 miles from my house in Georgia to the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Crazy? Probably, but I do love driving across this country of ours. Some parts are a lot more appealing than others, but it really is the only way to see the country. This time up, dad was going; and since I was driving it allowed another friend who couldn’t afford to fly out for this event to now be able to participate herself. This trips extra passenger was none other than Paralympian Lee Ford. This trip gave Lee an opportunity to see parts of this country that she doesn’t normally see in worldly travels. Even got her a view of her first Pronghorn!

The South Point Hotel was great. They still allowed smoking in the casino, and me with asthma; I just avoided that area at all possible. They converted ball rooms in shooting venues, the rodeo ring into a shooting arena and the rodeo practice ring into a practice shooting area. I thought they did a very good job of getting everything setup and organized. Again, this was my first trip to The Vegas Shoot (first of I hope many) and again the nerves reared their ugly little heads. But I said to myself, you’ve got this. You survived Lancaster, you can survive this and I did. Friday I shot a 294, Saturday a 291 and Sunday a 291 for a total of 876 (which ironically was the same number of people that were listed in my division), putting 265 or 876. That’s well up there in the top third of the division. Heck, ya – I’ll take that!! What a way to spend my 2 year anniversary of the weekend I first picked up a bow!!

The Vegas Shoot was just the start to the tournament list for February. Next up on the calendar was GAA State Indoor on the 15th. Then the 46th Annual U.S. National Indoor Championships the 21st and 22nd; and finishing off the month with the 2015 GBAA State Indoor & NFAA SE Sectional Indoor Championships. I shot ok at the GAA State Indoor, but to honest, I spent more time laughing and having fun with friends. I do have some work to do if I want to make a better showing at next year’s U.S. National Indoor Championships. Don’t get me wrong, I shot better than I did last year by 25 points, but I still think I can do better. The GBAA State and NFAA SE Sectionals wasn’t a very good weekend. I was down from last year. It’s not fun to close out a February on a sour note, but I think I’ll choose to think of it as having the opportunity to enter March like the weather – In like a lion!!

March! What is held in March? The 35th Annual NFAA National Indoor Championships that’s what. And I am very happy how I closed out Indoor Season. I shot my best event by far. As usual, buy my past tournaments, I was consistent. I shot a 298 with 36 Xs on Saturday and shot a 298 with 46 Xs on Sunday for a 596 with 82 Xs on the weekend. It may sound very funny, but I am bouncing with joy. Again, I wasn’t perfect on the weekend, I didn’t break any records and there were a lot of people that shot higher scores and X counts than me – but I don’t care. I had the best tournament of my 2 year archery career.

And that folks brings us to the close of 2015’s Indoor Archery Season! As the sticker on the back window of my car states, “THERE IS NO OFF SEASON” in archery, so next up – Outdoor Season!!