Archery means more to me than I’ll ever be able to explain. It is an excellent way to exercise my brain and have a goal to work towards. This is my second year doing archery and it has become a major part of my life. It’s something that I can work on every day and feel proud when I see my progress. It has meant more to me than I ever thought it would when I first joined my archery team, a decision that I am more and more grateful for every time I shoot. My Name is Jillian McClanahan, and I am fifteen years old. I currently live in Las Vegas, Nevada, but I am originally from a small town in Kentucky. I am in 10th grade and have been homeschooled for 10 years.
Joining my archery team has given me the opportunity to make friends with people I would have never met if I didn’t participate in this sport, which has made a positive impact on me mentally and socially. My teammates are some of the most supportive people I have ever met. Although we encourage one another, we also tease, and have little competitions within ourselves which makes us all strive to do our personal best. One of my favorite things my team does every year is our holiday parties. We split up into teams and play funny games, have relay races, and shoot apples. I have become excellent friends with some of my teammates, which makes traveling for competitions fun!
My main goal this NASP 2023 season is to practice at least five times a week, because I think that it is a key component in staying consistent. Last year my biggest issue was being limited to practice only during my scheduled weekly classes, so we were able to set up my own archery range in our backyard and increase my total number of practice rounds. This season my scoring goal is to simply be better than I was last year and have fun while doing it. I was actually really proud of my 256 last year, considering that it was my first year ever shooting a bow. This year though, I would like to score at least a 275.
I am so thankful to get the opportunity to be a NASP student contributor. I hope by sharing my experiences, others will benefit and learn more about the NASP program. Good luck to everyone this archery season!
-Jillian McClanahan is a 2023 student contributor-