Right on target: archery club provides local youth with a new type of sport

Archery is an age-old practice, but it only just recently made its way to Grundy Center, where it is now a club sport with 24 Grundy Center students from 6th to 12th grade involved in the program.
 
Two community members - Ryan Bingman and Robert Allen - are co-coaches for the group, which meets twice a week at the Upper Elementary Gym for practice.
 
“This is our first year as coaches, but the archery program hasn’t been around that long, maybe five years or so,” Allen said. “It’s been a lot of fun coaching. This is a great sport that focuses a lot on those mental skills, but physical skills, too. It’s a great experience for the kids, especially because it’s a pretty even mix of boys and girls, and younger kids and older kids. The younger kids get to learn from the older kids, and the older kids learn to be mentors to the younger kids.”
 
The team has been practicing since October in preparation for their 10 meets of the season, which culminates with the state competition in Des Moines next month. There are eight students who qualified to go to the state competition this year, which is more than last year. 
 
“Each kid goes to each meet, and that’s a great chance for them to learn and to get out of their comfort zone,” Bingman said. “It’s been amazing to see how much kids have grown and improved just during this season alone. We have eight kids going to state this year, so that’s been pretty exciting.”
 
 
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here. 

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