Anagail Hamby, May – Every sport has unspoken rules. Some are for courtesy, or tradition or even for your own good. The one I speak of today, is for your own good. Fighting for every point is incredibly necessary. Sometimes, when we are writing down our score, we let our arrows be scored lower than they should be. This could happen when your partner says your arrow is an eight when it’s really a nine, and you agree. Maybe we don’t double check our shooting partner’s work on the scorecard. Perhaps we ourselves don’t count the arrow touching the line as the higher point, as we should.
This fight for points may seem trivial to some. How could one point be worth a fight? It’s necessary because one point can determine your awards, prizes, or prestige. Not only that, but selling yourself short is never acceptable. Say first place for high 
school girls at state for Bullseye is tied at 292. You both have the same score but because you let your partner count a ten as a nine, you lose. You not only have a lower score than you would have, but your opponent has a higher number of tens, declaring her the best archer of your state, instead of you.
Fighting for your points can be hard. I, for one, have a tendency to stay silent and comply, even when I don’t agree. For some, it’s easier to avoid conflict, even if it’s just a conflict of opinions. Sometimes it is so hard to make yourself stand out, even to just raise your hand for an official second opinion.
The rewards of overcoming these problems are tremendous. Not selling yourself short and fighting for your due, gives you a sense of accomplishment well deserved. You will never look back and wish you had let your shooting partner jip you on your score. You will always be proud you stood up for yourself, and competed to the best of your abilities. You will have more confidence in your opinions, in your abilities, and in yourself overall.
So, fight for your points. Fight for yourself and fight to succeed. Make yourself say your opinion, or raise your hand for the official. It could change not just your placement in state or nationals, but it could change your confidence in yourself. Do yourself a favor: stand up, stand tall, and fight.
