Quinn Rousey started 6th grade this year, although I’ve known him since before Kindergarten. He was adopted from China to a wonderful family.
Quinn came to me last year, while in 5th grade, and told me he wanted to try out for my archery team. I allow everyone in 4th & 5th grade to try out, and my only reservation with Quinn was that he does not have a right hand. I already knew in my mind the moment he expressed interest that I would make him one of my 24 archers…NO MATTER WHAT.
Quinn was 1 of 28 students selected for his middle school team, out of 70+ students who tried out.
I did some social networking and found he could use a mouth tab, so we got one. During his try out, not one arrow hit the target. I didn’t care, I still wanted him to be a part of my team.
I reached out to my national PE Facebook page, PE Central, for help with resources. With that research, I encountered a group that called themselves NubAbility. Kyle Smith, Dakota Rogers, and David Mohn are our NubAbility Outdoors Archery coaches and should be able to help you much better than I can. They were so amazing! These men all had a handicap that resembled Quinn’s. With their help… and only with their help, I got Quinn set up. After that it was ALL Quinn. He put in the work, and he became one of the top shooters on the team. His score throughout this season has averaged in the 240s. His love for archery continues to grow. We’re very proud of him, and we’re happy he has found a sport that he loves. Everyone that saw him shoot during tournaments were super impressed.
His mom thanked me for taking a chance on him. My response was that I felt like he took a chance on me.
