HCHS Archery program expands its borders

Some sports enthusiasts may say archery lacks the trademark juxtaposition of bright stadium lights and the darkness of a fall Friday night, or perhaps the beat of a school-spirit fueled marching band. But, substitute the field for a stripped down school cafeteria and the marching band for the soft hum of arrows hitting targets, you have archery – an unlikely up-and-comer in the world of sports.

The ancient origins of archery provide a rich backstory, starting as a hunting technique in Ancient Egypt and evolving into a military weapon in England and the Roman Empire. In several Asian countries, it continued to be used in war well into the 19th century, according to Topend Sports. As teams were forming across the country for other modern sports like football and basketball, archery was swept under the rug  through much of the 20th century in the United States. Luckily, it has been rediscovered, this time not as a military tactic, but as a high school sport.

FCPS archery program began with the Beaumont Middle School team. Betty White, the former Beaumont coach and currently at Tates Creek High School, is commonly considered a pioneer in FCPS’s archery movement. White brought archery from Beaumont in 2009 to Dunbar, HC, Winburn, and The Learning Center.
White is exceptionally pleased with the program’s overall growth.

FCPS now has “up to about 15, 16 teams private and public schools,” White said.

HC added its program three years ago to fill a growing demand.

“A bunch of kids were interested in doing it and archery was starting to grow in Lexington,” Coach Sam Simpson said.

In its first two years, archery was only a club sport, meaning it couldn’t be Varsity and you couldn’t earn a letter for it. Kentucky added funding for the archery program last year, allowing it to become Varsity, Simpson said.

HC’s archery team is “starting to get more and more interest,” Simpson said. He credits the increase to the addition of archery programs in HC’s feeder schools.

This uptick in interest is well-deserved – archery is a favorite sport of both the team members and Coach Simpson.

Team member Sabrina Lozada, who has been playing archery since 8th grade, finds solace in archery.

“It challenges me and it calms me because you have to really focus and aim,” Lozada said.

Coach Simpson agrees.

“I think that it gives some people an opportunity to compete and be a part of a team that otherwise wouldn’t,’ Simpson said. “There’s a real challenge to this and you have to be skilled, most importantly you have to be focused.”

The only downside? According to Lozada, not much.

“People just think of like The Hunger Games and such but that’s kind of a frivolous idea. People always say, ‘Are you Katniss?’”

Although not yet as popular as The Hunger Games, archery seems to have no problem garnering more participants and observers, and it’s only up from here.