Many will never see a bow and arrow outside of the hands of fictional characters like Legolas or Olympic medalists like Mete Gazoz. This mighty weapon allowed Gengas Khan to conquer over 12 million square miles (Blakemore, 2019, para. 9). With the advent of guns and planes, attempting to use a bow and arrow in modern warfare is futile. Somehow, this archaic weapon still has popularity today. Instead of wars and hunting parties, people now gather to shoot at painted targets and model animals.

This year introduced the new Archery Club to ThunderRidge. Archery encourages hand-eye coordination, breathing control and comradery with club members. While other clubs keep students inside to write or read, the archery club offers exercise and activity. Unlike the school sports, this club is easy to join and open to all skill levels.

Despite the old fashioned nature of the weapon, archery has been increasing in popularity in the last few decades. Archery is a surprisingly common pastime with “23,836,399 adult archery participants” (Responsive Management, 2016, p.3), archers make up nearly 10% of the upwards of 250 million adults in the United States. Archery has been around for hundreds of years, and will not be falling in popularity any time soon.

Quarantine allowed people to look back at their lives, and encouraged them to experience the world anew. This translated to many people trying archery as a way to stay active and have fun. In the United States, Archery has only been growing. According to a study by Recurrive Management, archery “participation jumped over 20 percent from 2012 to 2015” (Scott, 2016, para. 1). In view of the growing popularity of archery, it’s no surprise that ThunderRidge now boasts its very own archery club. It is likely that within five years all nearby highschools will have an archery club.

The standard day at the archery club begins with the arrival of the members to Quick Draw, an archery range near Murdochs. The club rents lanes with targets on the end for participants to shoot at. Those who don't own their own bows rent them from the range. Club members take turns shooting at the targets. While waiting for their turn, club members talk and laugh together. The members often play games with arrows, such as tic-tac-toe. In this game, archers take turns shooting at a target with a tic-tac-toe board on it. A good aim is key for this challenge, as where your arrow lands marks your X or O. Get three in a row to score a win!

Griffin Witty, the founder of this club, is a freshman this year. He’s been shooting for years with the help of his dad, a bow hunter. Years of experience has made him a competitive archer, ranking in the Junior Olympic Archery competitions. He’s been on a few hunts, but has not successfully shot anything. With Griffin only being a freshman this year and the separation because of COVID, he needed a way to make friends. He created this club to provide a way to connect with people who have similar interests.