By Jack Haslett
Days spent shooting at targets may sound like a solitary mission, but the Long Beach State Archery Club proves that there is community in such a quiet sport.
According to the club website, the CSULB Archery Club is the longest-running program of its kind. The club features 32 members, including casual archers and a team that competes in tournaments with other collegiate clubs across the nation.
Sophomore physics major Christopher Perez joined the club his freshman year after the club’s display of bows at Week of Welcome caught his eye. As a kid, Perez would shoot arrows in the backyard with his cousin, but club archery was a new level for him. Perez has since thrown himself into the sport and is now team manager during his second year with the club.
“I never expected to be here, the team manager, shooting a brand new bow… and arrows that are made specifically for me,” Perez said. “It’s really exciting to be here and it gives me something to think about other than school. It’s a very nice break from everything that’s going on on the other side of campus.”
The club has proven to cast a wide net. Some approach the club as seasoned archers looking to continue their craft whereas others are discovering the sport for the first time.
Junior film documentary major Abby Kottke, the publicist for the club, has been practicing archery for eight years and the Archery Club even factored into her decision to attend the school.
“It’s a team. You’re gonna go through your highs and your lows, but you’re there together all the way through,” Kottke said. “I like that bond… this is where nothing else matters. All that matters is hitting the target.”
A club meeting concludes with a drawing drill at the baseball field near the Walter Pyramid. The archers line up together and draw their strings at intervals, as directed by head coach Wendy Whalen, for extra practice. Photo Credit: Jack Haslett.
The team competed in a qualifier on Oct. 27 at CSULB. The qualifier allows archers to get a score on the record for the season and continue to the championship tournament held in Chula Vista, CA. Scores in tournaments can translate to accolades like All-American designations, a goal for many archers on Long Beach State’s team.
CSULB’s club has seen success, but archery tends to fly under the radar in the shadow of the NCAA-organized sports on campus.
“We are surprisingly really good as a school and people don’t really know that,” said Club President and fourth-year molecular cell biology major Andres Flores. “We won a lot of medals last year. This year, we’ll probably win a lot of medals… we just kind of win, and then we’re like ‘alright, let’s go back to shooting.’”
While this sport may seem highly individualistic on the surface, community is a major part of archery. The club offers an opportunity for archers to find their niche on a campus that can sometimes be hard to fit into. Archers often find themselves practicing alone, but the club provides an opportunity for individuals to be together.
“I know freshman year, I didn’t feel part of the school,” Flores said. “But then, I found my group and now I’m here. I recommend people… joining a club. Joining clubs is great and a lot of people just don’t do it.”
Prospective members can now join the club right away, whereas previously, there was a form of tryout or skill assessment for new members. The mix of new and seasoned archers provides a space for collaboration that has impressed head coach Wendy Whalen.
“You can have a beginner shooting right next to an Olympian, and for the most part archers are very generous with their knowledge,” Whalen said. “They’ll share equipment if you have a breakdown. They want the competition, they’re really good with that.”
Whalen got involved with archery as a way to find an activity that her whole family could do together without having to travel across town going between different sports.
Junior Abby Kottke prepares to knock another arrow. Kottke has been practicing archery for eight years and is also the publicist for the club. Photo Credit: Jack Haslett.
Whalen then fell in with coaching a group at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, where she connected with people from the CSULB team looking for someone to coach the team consistently, and Whalen came aboard.
Archery has a long history with LBSU. The program as a whole is spearheaded by Kinesiology Professor Mel Leach, who has led the program as a coach and professor since 1968. Leach teaches archery as a class now, while Whalen coaches the team.
A lack of funding for the club often presents issues in a sport with so many different pieces of equipment. A single archer’s bow can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the type, and arrows themselves come with individual components like the spine, feathers and point.
While the archery team has coaches to instruct the archers, the club is run by a board of students that includes Flores, Kottke and Perez.
Whalen sees her role as the consistent figure who is there to pass on knowledge as student leaders inevitably graduate.
“I’m only there to help them shoot better, and give them tips and pointers,” Whalen said. “They’re all students… they’re only here for a short amount of time. Sometimes that knowledge doesn’t get passed down. The coaches make sure we’re backing them up.”
