My niece at the Vegas Shoot - 2017 edition (1 Viewer)

[Psypher1000]

as some of you know my niece is heavily involved in national-/world-class archery. Last year she ended up beating some of the pros at th Vegas Shoot as an age 14 amateur shooting compound (as documented here: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/off-topic.35/). She followed that up with climbing to #1 in the nation in outdoor right up until the final meet in Alabama where disaster struck. Her bow went out of timing and she ended up finishing 7th there, unable to get her backup bow dialed in well enough before the meet was done. That dropped her to 4th nationally - still excellent, but a bit of a blow to her psyche since it was out of her control. The next exhibition tournament compounded things when her release broke. That left her in a mental funk for months at which point her coach suggested she make a dramatic change - a switch to recurve. Switching would effectively mean starting over - different gear, different poundage, different release. But it would also mean she has greater control over her apparatus, and there are fewer moving parts to break. That also would mean she would be eligible to try out for the Olympics in 2020.

With some hesitation, she made the switch. That was five months ago. Now, here we are, back at Vegas, but with her new bow - and she's already worked he way back into the top ten in the nation. Between her work ethic, her coaching, her drive, and her natural ability, all signs are pointing to a trip to the Olympic trials in 2020 with a real shot at the show (her coach is the USA Olympic coach).

Here's a couple shots from her first two ends today. So far she's trending towards a 268 - and this uncle is thrilled!).

 

[trever]

Not enough love for recurve these days.
Congrats to your niece

 

[nitzilla]

I have no idea what any of your words above mean, but Congrats anyway!

 

[Joe E.]

congrats, very cool. Agreed not enough interest in the re curve and it's cool to see youth interested in something not plugged in to the wall (or a battery).

 

[Mr. Cheese]

Congrats! Very cool and what an accomplishment she's had so far!

 

[Psypher1000]

My niece finished the day with a 268. She hat a shot at 270+, but the monkey jumped on her back on the last arrow of the day and she plucked a 5. Still, a great showing overall. I celebrated by buying her ice cream, and me a trip to Spinettis. Also hit the Golden Nugget and was able to upgrade my $1's to uncirculated condition, thanks to a generous tip to the cashier!

(No, the 50c chip is not available.)

Not enough love for recurve these days.
Congrats to your niece

congrats, very cool. Agreed not enough interest in the re curve and it's cool to see youth interested in something not plugged in to the wall (or a battery).

Recurve is still by far the least popular category, however the competition therein is pretty fierce.

As a side note, the kids have slightly outdrawn the adult categories here, and young women outnumber young men in all your age groups and categories but about 3.5 to 1. Total participation is approximately 3k archers.

 

[Gear]

young women outnumber young men in all your age groups and categories but about 3.5 to 1.

Two words: Hunger Games

Congrats to your niece! Lots of hard work and dedication.

 

[Poker Zombie]

You need to teach your niece poker. If anything in my life taught me how to just shake off bad breaks (like equipment failure) it has been poker.

 

[Psypher1000]

We all had to be up at WTF:30 this morning for a 6:30am check-in time. No time for proper warm up and she chose not to stretch. That's caused her to have a very squirly start. Lots of rushed shots, not breathing. Getting the feeling she just wants this to be over with and/or have a long talk with her pillow. Wouldn't blame her if that's the case - she went from shooting to eating to homework all day yesterday, then to bed and right back to shooting. I keep waiting for her to say she just wants to be a kid, but she hasn't acted like that and her parents haven't been pushing her. Anywho, 129 at the halfway point.

 

[Psypher1000]

wo words: Hunger Games

Undeniable influence, yes. Hawkeye has not had the same effect on the men's side, though - possibly due to lack of explosives.