The Shoreline Community College archery team, one of the best in the
nation, is optimistically preparing for the 2001-2002 season. The team
will be competing in a winter indoor season and a spring outdoor season,
during which they will travel to Utah and California.
"I have confidence in my team"
said head coach Glen Harris. "This year we have a pretty strong men's
recurve team, which we haven't had in the past" Harris also said.
The archery program at Shoreline began
in the 1970s and was run by the 1980 U.S. Olympic Coach Dwight Nyquist. It
faded away in the 80s and started up again in 1991 when Harris came to
Shoreline. In 1996 an official archery club was formed at Shoreline.
After becoming the 1998 Community
College National Champions, the archers petitioned student government to
become a varsity team and succeeded in 2000.
"We're usually up there in the top
ten, which is pretty remarkable considering we're such a small
school," said Harris. He also pointed out, "The reason that
we're successful is because right from the start it's about the student
archers. We help them discover the confidence that is inherent in all of
them."
Harris, who has been coaching archery
for over 20 years, is also an U.S. National Coach. During his time at
Shoreline, Harris has taken two years off to act as Head Coach for the
U.S. Paralympic Archery Team, the Olympic equivalent for archers with
disabilities, coaching the 1996 games in Atlanta and 2000 games in Sydney.
Harris' assistant coach and wife,
Phyllis Harris, a.k.a. Mom Coach, is a many times Utah State Archery
Champion and past National Field Archery Association National Indoor
Champion.
"Most of the archers on the team
come directly from the beginning archery class, although some archers come
to Shoreline to be on the team. We graduate most of them to four year
universities," Harris said, "Shoreline archers are very heavily
recruited."
However, the team also has its problems.
Many of which are the same as those of other sports, namely funding,
academic eligibility, and training time. Harris noted, "The biggest
issue most of the team members face is finding adequate personal archery
tackle. It is expensive and individual specific."
"What is expected for the team is
that each member give the best that they have, in class, in training, in
competition, and most importantly to take a look inside themselves and
find out what they are made of" said Harris.
"I've only been shooting
competitively for two years" said Dave Anderson, an archer on the
recurve team. "I originally started as a kid, for hunting. Then there
was an archery club near my house when I was fifteen." Anderson said,
"I really like the sport itself. I like the history. I like just
about every aspect. I like hunting. But I really like the quiet. I like
going off and doing my own thing, it's pretty nice."
Gabriel Wan, an archer on the compound
team uses archery "for stress relief, and to help me with my
concentration".
"I really just took the class
because I needed a PE credit" said Juan Rodriguez-Poirier.
"After about two weeks or so I saw the team shoot and I thought it
would be kind of fun so I decided to join up." Rodriguez-Poirier went
on to say, "I intend to carry it on through my life, whether
competitive or non-competitive."
"Archery is a lifetime sport,"
Harris says, "Someday you're going to turn 40," he points out,
"Archery is something you can do late in your life."
Over the years many friendships are
formed on the archery team. "It becomes friends and family,"
said Harris, who keeps in contact with many former SCC archers.
Students can get involved with the
archery team either by joining the class, which fills up fast, or by
showing up at the archery room in the PE building Wednesday nights at 6
p.m. No experience is necessary and equipment is provided.
by Jonathan Heppner
