NEW PALESTINE — To the far south side of the New Palestine Intermediate School (NPIS) gym, a lofty place with lots of extra room, over 20 bullseye shooting targets were set up a few feet apart.
Members of the New Palestine Junior High School (NPJHS) Archery team were visiting the intermediate school where they practice a couple of times a week throughout the archery season. The team is just a few days away from its biggest competition of the year this weekend, a meet at the Triton Central State Qualifier.
“Thursday is our extra long day, so we can actually practice aiming at 3-D targets, which adds extra difficulty,” archery coach Daniel Rittmeyer said.
“Each year, you can try to qualify, but you must go through a qualifier event. The team as a whole and individual scores will determine if we make it, so our kids will have two chances to be a part of state.”
The 24 junior high students all acted in unison when Rittmeyer blew the start whistle. In what looked like a choreographed scene, the students together lifted their bows, steadied their sight, took aim and fired, sending arrows flying across the gym into flat and 3-D targets.
“I’ve been shooting since about second grade,” eight grade student Oliver Smith said.
His father coaches an archery team for Triton schools and introduced him to the sport when he was very young.
“I was excited when I saw they were teaching archery here when I was in fifth grade,” Oliver said. “I just got into it because while it’s a individual sport, it’s also a team sport.”
The students are coached by Rittmeyer and NPJHS gym teacher Michelle Bloomer, who started an intermediate school archery club years ago after she received a grant to purchase the bows, arrows, targets and nets.
Now, the program has grown enough for NPJHS to have a full competitive team.
The NPJHS team is governed through the National Archery in the Schools Program. Bloomer teaches archery each semester, but kids start learning about the sport in intermediate school.
“The thing I like about it is anyone can do it and boys and girls can compete together,” Bloomer said.
The students learn about shooting etiquette and bow safety in gym class and then perfect their skills when they join the school’s team.
“There is a quiet concentration around this sport that makes it kind of neat,” Bloomer said.
While the school district supplies the bows and arrows, many students purchase their own bows, gloves and gear, which cost anywhere from $200 to $240. While as many as 24 kids can compete on each team, the top 12 scores, which must include the top four girls, is what team scoring is usually based on.
A perfect score in archery is 300, a max 50 points in six rounds.
“From the stats we go over, our top kiddos are shooting upper 240s to 260s,” Bloomer said. “As a team, we have been finishing in the middle of the pack at competitions.”
Olivia Homer, an eighth grade student, said there’s nothing quite like getting a bullseye, a 10 — a perfect score.
“It just makes you feel good for the whole day,” she said. “When I tried it out a few years ago, I really liked it and I’d say the hardest part is figuring out the aim because you have to be very specific to get the bullseye.”
Teammate Hailey Pardieck, an eighth-grade student, is a competitive shooter outside of the archery team. Her father, a police officer, started teaching her about aiming, shooting and shooting safety when she was very young.
“When I saw our school had archery, I wanted to join,” Hailey said. “The thing that is hardest is when you have just one mistake, with one little thing off, it can make a big difference.”
In March, officials will hold the National Archery in the Schools Program State Archery Tournament. The gathering is the culminating event for Indiana students in grades 4 through 12 who have qualified to attend the annual state tournament. Students will be representing 125 schools from around the state. The tournament will host both a bullseye and a 3-D archery range at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Bloomer noted from the experience gained at NPIS and continued at NPJHS, the potential is there for a team at the next level.
“We look forward to seeing how their eagerness to improve becomes a big factor in how far they go this season, and beyond if we can continue the momentum through a high school program,” she said.
While archery is not yet an Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sport, it’s growing statewide and is considered a competitive sport.
“While it’s not a certified IHSAA sport, it is state-recognized program,” Rittmeyer said. “You have to have the in-school taught portion of it to qualify to do tournaments.”
Both Rittmeyer’s son, Liam and Graeme Rittmeyer, are on the team, and he said it’s been a blast coaching his sons and the other kids.
The thing Rittmeyer likes the most about archery is any shooter, regardless of age, can beat another on any given day.
“If you’re a fourth grader, you can beat a senior,” Rittmeyer said. “It all comes down to how much you’ve prepared and practiced. Archery is an equalizer, no one person has a distinct advantage.”
