At age eleven, Samantha Ensign could not walk. At age 18, she is fighting to be one of the top archers in the nation, and looking for her first Olympic medal. This is her story - full of courage, hope, and above all, dedication. 

For most, a traumatic event will change the course of their lives. The same can be said for Samantha Ensign. While sledding with a friend, Ensign, sitting in the front, was admittedly paying less attention than she should’ve. Before she knew it, they were headed straight for a bush with no way to stop. This hit caused the bone in her calf to go through her knee, shattering her growth plate, known as a Salter-Harris fracture.

A serious injury, Ensign had to stay in a wheelchair for months, with a chance that her legs would not grow anymore. Her nerve damage from the injury made it so that she was unable to move or feel her foot, so her leg could not support any weight. Ensign defied the odds, and miraculously over time was able to walk again. However, while she was recovering she spent many hours on the couch watching movies. One stood out to her: the Disney movie Brave. 

“I was thinking to myself ‘Oh, I should try archery’ when I saw [Merida] shooting on her horse,” Ensign said. 

From there, the rest is history. Her first stop was Lancaster Archery, a local shooting range, where lessons were offered. A college student, Ben Farney, taught Ensign her first lesson, and she liked it enough to start doing it once a week. 

“It was very calming and fun,” Ensign said. “And so it went from once a week, to every day, to I literally don’t stop.” 

These days, her practice routine looks a little bit different. Ensign remembers a distinct moment in her training regiment where she decided to go all in. 

“I was coming home from a national event and I just got my butt kicked and I was in tears. I had made this spreadsheet then that planned out the next six months, so the next big tournament, and I was going to get better no matter what,” Ensign said. 

90 arrows every other day became 90 arrows every day, to 150, and now 250. With that, Ensign scores and films her shooting, watching her form in order to keep improving. She has also added in cardio and light weights, and meets with her coach once a week. Most of her shooting and work is done alone, putting on display her dedication to the sport, but she shoots with Olympic Bronze Medalist Casey Kaufhold around three times each week. 

For those not familiar with the sport, Kaufhold competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics, taking home a bronze medal in Mixed Team Archery for the United States alongside Brady Ellison. Along with winning numerous world competitions, she is ranked #1 in the world in Women’s Recurve Archery, the first United States woman to hold that title. She has accomplished all of this at 20, but Samantha Ensign is coming for that same level of greatness.

 Even though both archers are competing against each other, they have managed to remain close personal friends. Over the years, they would watch people filter out of the shooting range, both staying late to get in more practice time. Slowly, they became friends, and now they are nearly inseparable. 

“Practicing with Casey definitely pushes me to reach my goals,” Ensign added, having practiced with her for the last five years. 

Being able to shoot alongside an Olympian also has made her more competitive.

“If I can beat Casey, I can beat anybody,” Ensign said. 

This isn’t cockiness or anything along those lines: this is pure confidence coming from Ensign. Her years of hard work had brought her to this level, and her confidence drives her performances. 

As many athletes do, Ensign admitted that she has struggled with confidence over the years, especially the line between how others perceive confidence versus arrogance. Years of experience however, have taught her that a lack of confidence leads to psyching herself out, so instead she goes in with the mindset of “Yeah, I know I can do that. It’s me.”

Coming up next for Ensign is the Nimes Archery Tournament, held in France from January 16 to 19. Her first Senior World Archery Event, this will determine her World Ranking. Going to Paris has been a lifelong dream for Ensign, so she will be accomplishing many bucket list items all at once. 

However, she wouldn’t be attending on campus, but instead participating in online classes. This would allow her to travel monthly to represent the United States in World Archery Competitions while still furthering her education through a degree in strategic communications. 

These competitions are all stepping stones, helping Ensign chart her path to the 2028 Olympics held in Chula Vista, California. 

“It's super exciting that it's home turf,” Ensign said, which gives them an advantage. 

She has shot at the Olympic Training Center before, so she already knows what to expect. Last year, she ended in ninth place in the United States, missing out on the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, she’s confident that with four extra years she can make it to the top three, and complete her goal of becoming an Olympian. 

All of these tournaments are in the future, but preparation starts now. Along with getting her practice routine down, Ensign makes sure she has a set night routine before a tournament. To start, she makes sure to eat a high protein dinner, like steak or chicken, so that she’s fueled for the next day. Alongside that she makes sure to stay hydrated, especially when she’s shooting in humid climates like Arizona because she’s found that she doesn’t compete as well when she’s hungry or thirsty. Going to bed early is also a game changer for her, and with all three she can make sure that she has done her part in preparing for the next day. 

Something else Ensign makes sure to note is what she can improve on. To her, the biggest weaknesses she struggles with are a lack of patience and putting too much pressure on herself. Not having patience can result in getting inside her own head, so she focuses on trusting her shot, which in archery terms translates to relaxing and finishing the shot rather than forcing it and getting tension in her hands. Along with that, she notices that when she tenses up after putting too much pressure on herself, it hurts her score, so she focuses on breathing and having patience.

With any sport of this caliber, there will always be losses to overcome. 

“That’s always a recurring lesson,” Ensign said. “Last year, I came off a really big win at a tournament and went right into another tournament. I put so much pressure on myself that I remember standing on the line not being able to draw back my bow.”

 After giving herself a day to cry it out, Ensign promised herself that it would never happen again. Now, she meets with a sports psychologist who helps her with visualization, breathing exercises, and making plans to work through situations like that again. 

Her biggest strength? Dedication.

“I’ve seen what I can do in a short period of time,” Ensign said. “I’m very committed to making things work and adapting.”

If you catch her in a rare moment without archery, Ensign enjoys trying new hobbies such as crafting, baking, and drawing. She has also recently started to get into videography, and makes Instagram content for her church. 

“I like seeing how people react to different things,” Ensign added. “So finding what reels are going to get views and what reels are going to get likes and then merging the two together to create a marketing brand.”

These skills will also be useful in the future for Ensign, who is already thinking about how she would like to present herself to the public. Unlike Kaufhold’s business approach, she would like to focus on the marketing and public speaking aspect, spreading her messages and journey with aspiring archers worldwide. 

Who knows what the future holds for Ensign, but she has achievements she is already working towards. In five years, she sees herself with an Olympic gold medal, to start. However, she has other goals as well. 

“I see myself being a spokesperson for archery and using my faith to guide me and promote other athletes to be able to dedicate themselves to their sports and really reach their goals,” Ensign said. 

To any aspiring archers out there, look to Samantha Ensign as a testament to where dedication and hard work will get you. If you need one last push, take it from Ensign herself, who says to have patience, trust yourself, and go for it.