I’m Madi Rhinevault and I’m a senior at Montrose High School in Pennsylvania. I shoot with my two younger siblings Ali and Logan. I love fishing, hunting, and archery most of all. I am very close with my team and I have been shooting since I was five years old. I started with a mini genesis in my backyard often having to retrieve the arrows I buried in the dirt. It is safe to say that I’ve improved since then after almost 8 years of shooting NASP competitively.
I got my start in competition during a Centershot winter league in third grade and became interested in NASP® in fourth grade when I made the cut for the state team and ended up shooting my lowest score on record. Mortifying as it may be, I cried on the line because of that score. However, that score was crucial because it made me realize how much I wanted to succeed in this sport. Skip to seven years later and I’m still shooting NASP®, competing with my Mathews TRX 34 in IBO shoots and local leagues and now I’m gearing up to start barebow.
After the lessons learned in fourth grade, I’ve traveled to every state, national, and championship tournament from my 5th-grade year to current. In the beginning, the coaches said, “It couldn’t be done” and I would “never make it past nationals” and “no one had before”. Before my fifth-grade season started, my dad got his BAI certification and became the coach who helped. He countered what had been normalized to work towards building champions. That year I didn’t just make it to nationals, but I also placed at the championship.
I live in a town that’s so small you have to name the two biggest cities that it sits between so people can understand the
location. For years people were led to believe that archers from a nowhere town would go nowhere and never be good enough to stand a chance against big city schools and their archers. After countless hours, thousands of arrows, and a ton of tournaments we’ve broken down the barriers, continually exceeded expectations, and put our school on the map in terms of competition. Now, I work beside the head coaches as what they like to call a junior coach, helping the next generation of Genesis archers to perfect their form and live up to the standard we’ve set for Montrose.
When I had the moment of realization in fourth grade I worked harder than I ever had before to better myself as an archer. I became a guinea pig of sorts and spent many hours in my basement with my dad trying out different methods until we found the right form. Then we spent many more hours analyzing every little detail of my shot to make it repeatable and commit it to muscle memory. Over time, I struggled with target panic, health issues, and even nerves in general. After working through these issues with my dad I now work alongside him to help kids that share the same struggles as I once had.
In the 2024 season, I hope to help my current fourth and fifth-grade archers to be the next to stand on the podium at states and nationals. It is also my goal to place and shoot in as many tournaments as possible. If you are reading this as an archer I hope you know that with relentless determination and practice you can stand on the podium at your next tournament. If you’re not an archer yet, then I encourage you to pick up a bow and try it.
Happy shooting and best of luck to all in the 2024 season!