Jillian McClanahan June – Being surrounded by good leaders in archery has made me a better leader. The more time I spend with my archery team members and its leaders, the more it teaches me about being a leader and respecting everyone’s opinions. Every team member is needed to make the team work efficiently and smoothly.
My coach, Sandra Scholten, has helped me a lot this year. I don’t think I would have even been a student contributor this year if it wasn’t for her. My coach answered all of my unnecessary questions about archery, and wrote last minute recommendation letters within an hour when I needed her help and was disorganized. Mrs. Sandra’s great leadership was demonstrated when all of my team tested her patience, and she had to deal with all the drama of the teen girls, and persistent random questions from the little kids and keep a level head and be calm and kind to everyone. But on the other hand I have seen her take people head on and that has taught me to stay strong and not let people walk all over me, because a good leader is a strong leader.
Another trait that makes a great leader is kindness. I saw kindness demonstrated by my other coach, Mandi Eichens. This very sweet woman had a very hard job this year, teaching middle school and elementary teams, 3D shooting, and preparing them for that competition. Those archers had never shot 3D and it was many of their first years doing archery. On top of struggling to teach all 25 archers, in the little time of an hour, one day a week, she also had to struggle with weather. My team does 3D outside, so some practice days it was boiling hot, some practices were freezing cold, and if the weather was perfect it was so windy it was moving our arrows. But I never saw Mrs. Mandi’s face without a big smile, kind words of encouragement, and her infectious laugh throughout practice.
Finally, I saw my team’s senior archers really take a step up this year. The younger archers naturally look up to the highschoolers, and even more so the seniors. Just a simple, “ Hey, you did really good today!” or a constructive criticism to the younger archers really boosts their confidence and creates a positive and encouraging environment. The oldest of the group set the example for all the other team members, so when they are friendly and kind to everyone that just makes the team go smoother and stimulates the learning ability of the group.
Those are just a few of the many ways I have seen great leadership be demonstrated on my archery team. I would not trade these experiences for anything, I learn something every time I’m with them and look forward to what I am going to learn in the future.
Jillian McClanahan is a 2023 student contributor.
