Jenna Wickersheim, February – I’ve been to over 100 tournaments in the past 8 years. Most of them are about the same but there’s always a few things that set them apart from one another. I do enjoy how each tournament is somewhere different so you get a good change of scenery over time. I also enjoy how there are some schools I’ve gone to every year for tournaments, and I have started to recognize different schools and I can remember where certain things are in the school.
Something I always look forward to is raffle baskets. There are only a few tournaments I’ve been to that didn’t have raffle baskets to raise money for their team. I think the raffle baskets are a great way to raise money because I always see a lot of tickets in the baskets. My family and I almost always buy tickets for the raffles because there’s usually a basket for every type of person. Along with raffle baskets, I enjoy when tournaments have concessions and have a nice variety of food. I like to get a little snack before I shoot because I normally get pretty hungry on the car ride to the tournament.
I also prefer when tournaments have both a bullseye and a 3D shoot. I like to shoot my 3D tournament before my bullseye tournament because it feels like a warmup to get me more prepared. If there isn’t an official 3D tournament, I like it when they either have a 3D fun shoot or an area to practice for bullseye. It’s very nice to be able to get a little bit of practice in before my tournaments, especially because I’m usually 30 minutes to 3 hours away from home. I enjoy participating in fun shoots even if there’s no prize offered for it. Some of my favorite things I’ve seen in fun shoots include a lifesaver strapped to the target and a floating ping-pong ball. There’s one tournament I go to every year that has a target you have to aim at from a second-level window, which is one of the hardest for me to shoot, but I like the difficulty of it. I think fun shoots are great for tournaments because not only are they fun, but they also get students more involved.
Sometimes tournaments have little challenges at the end of the bullseye flights for prizes. I’ve had to shoot at things like balloons and fake apples, and you keep shooting until you’re the last on the line. I think these are pretty fun especially since I’ve seen a lot of younger kids win, which is impressive considering how nerve-wracking it can be to be one of the last few people shooting on the line. Overall, I just feel really happy for whoever wins, because I know how nice it feels to win one of those in front of the audience. Normally, after these challenges the winner gets something nice like a new set of arrows. Who doesn’t like a free new set of arrows?
I think there is a lot more to tournaments than just the shooting aspect of it. I believe tournament coordinators should be doing the most to make their tournaments not only efficient but also fun! Many students travel over 2 hours with their families to make it to these tournaments. Usually, a tournament can take up a whole day if you want to stay for the award ceremony. Considering that many people have to spend almost all day at the tournament, I respect when there are extra things to do at tournaments to keep people occupied, like raffle baskets, concessions, fun shoots, and line challenges.