Middle School’s World-class Archery Team Aims for Success This Year
OutdoorHub Reporters 01.02.13
Foley Intermediate School’s fifth and sixth graders won’t be standing still for long; they’ve already set sights on next year’s championship. From the small town of Foley, Alabama, the 24-member team swept the National Archery in the School Program’s 2012 World Tournament in Orlando with a staggering 3,298 points. With the absolute perfect score for an individual archer capped at 300, Foley’s top 12 ranking archers averaged out to 274 apiece, which is no easy feat. These kids make Robin Hood look like an amateur.
They’re not content to bask in the fame though, even world champions need to practice. According to WPMI-Local 15, Foley’s archery team will be back in the quiver as soon as the holiday break is over, if not sooner.
“These kids, from the day they start school they beg to shoot archery,” said a proud Coach Anderson. Anderson started the archery program at Foley in an attempt to draw students to sports who were otherwise not inclined to. It’s great fun and builds discipline and perseverance in the students, but Anderson says grades come first. “We tell them from day one…you got to do two things and that’s make good grades and behave, and if you don’t do those two things its just not going to happen,” he commented.
Anabelle Laurendine, a student and archer at Foley, said, “its really just focus and it’s if you want to put your mind to it.”
Anderson plans on starting additional archery programs at other schools.
