Madison Evans, June – Archery is always full of laughs and great times. There were two memories though, that I will forever love.
Here, let me start out by saying that I am a very competitive being; whether it is a trophy, medal, or a prize, I will try my best to earn it. So, when we have an archery game night, you know I am on it.
Rainbow, a game where you try to get all the colors on the bullseye target, was forever the most difficult part of this fun night, especially at 15 meters. That night I was ready. I took a breath, in and out, aimed for the bullseye and… BOOM, I hit the last color I needed, blue. After that, there was only one thing standing in my way, the person that had tied me.
The coaches moved our quivers to the same target, and I watched as a crowd gathered around us. Another breath was taken before reaching down to pick up an arrow. “Breath Madison, you are under no pressure, this is for fun,” I told myself. Remember when I told you i was *clears throat* competitive? Well the other half of me was screaming,” GOOOOOOO! HIT THE BULLSEYE! WINNNNNNN!”. And with that, I tried to focus on the non-competitive side of me.
I pulled back, just as I watched my opponent’s arrow fly right towards the target. It hit with a loud thud, right in the middle of the eight ring. “Breathe… zen calm”, I whispered under my breath before aiming and taking the shot. Thud again. I heard cheering as I looked down the lane, at the target and see my opponents arrow in the eight, and mine in the nine. “YEEEEESSSSS I DID IT!”, the competitive side cheered. I had won game night.
In another incident, a very similar thing had happened. All the archers were competing for a special prize – a coupon for an outdoor 3D target event. To decide who would claim the prize, the coaches decided a shoot off would do it justice. But, it wasn’t any normal shoot off, this time it was gladiators.
Gladiators is another famed game for being quite tricky. You had to slowly move in from each ring. For example, it starts off with one or higher then two or higher, if I hit a three when it is four or higher, then I am out.
Back to the story. I was past all the white, black, blue, and red rings, now it was time for yellow. I took my shot and silently cheered when it hit the nine ring, the first yellow ring. Then, I hear the crowd go, “Ooooooooo.” I looked down the line as my brother’s jersey back mocked me. He turned around and looked right at me. To win this coupon, I had to face one other competitor, my younger brother.
They, once again, put the quivers together. While they were setting up, I looked at my brother, my family, my bestie, my opponent. The competitive side took over, “I shall be the winner,” I called in my head.
Once we were on the line, took one last look at my little brother. We both drew back at the same moment, with perfect synchronization. The one thing that was different about us is when we draw back, I give myself enough time to aim but my brother takes longer. I shot my arrow right before he did.
It was hard to tell who won from standing on the line, my arrow landed in the nine, my brother’s arrow looked like the eight but it needed to be checked because it could have been a nine.
“Madison wins”, one of the coaches who checked called out.
“LETSSSS GOOOOOO!’, my competitive side yelled inside me. Instant cheering erupted from the audience.
After this incident, my brother and I went back to being siblings telling each other good job but. The car ride home was filled with me bragging and my parents murmuring how they will have to get another ticket for my brother.
Now, I have had plenty of losses but the wins that I shared with you today have been keeping me motivated to continue archery.
