As I mentioned in a previous blog, I joined Iowa State's Archery Club last semester. I only went to a couple of the shoots last semester because they were always on the weekends, and not a lot of my weekends were spent in Ames. Although I wished I could have attended more shoots, there was definitely one shoot that I am very thankful that I attended!
I had received an email from the Vice President of the archery club stating that they were going to have try-outs to go shoot at the Iowa State Pro Am in Mason City, Iowa. I don't know if I had ever tried out for anything before, but I do know that I was really nervous. I had no idea how many people to expect to try out, or if I even had a chance. I also had no idea what the Pro Am even was, and looking back that's probably a good thing. Had I known the size of this tournament, I more than likely would have chickened out.
Long story short, I went to the shoot (making my roommates come with me because I was scared) and tried out. There were very few people at the shoot, and to my knowledge I think everyone that tried out was able to attend. The tryouts were at the end of the fall semester, and the Pro Am wasn't until the weekend of January 14th so I had a little time to practice over Winter break.
I don't think it was until the ride down to the Pro Am and when I actually walked into the building that I knew what I was getting myself into. I was in awe. This building was huge, and there were people and bows everywhere! I later learned that there were roughly 570 shooters from over 30 states and 3 countries, and we were shooting right along side the pros.
I was extremely lucky to have some very friendly people shooting in my same lane, because otherwise I can promise you that I would have made a pretty big fool of myself. They couldn't believe that I had only been shooting for seven months, or that I had never shot a tournament before coming to the Pro Am. They explained to me how the scoring worked, how much time we had to shoot, when it was my turn to shoot, etc. It wasn't until everyone stepped up to the line with all of their really flashy target bows that I felt really intimidated. Not only was I shooting right next to a pro, but because I'm left-handed I was facing the opposite direction of everyone else. And it didn't help that he was almost as short as me and it felt like my face couldn't get any closer to his. Talk about a distraction...
I posted a couple of pictures below so you can get a feel for the atmosphere. For more pictures or information on the Iowa State Pro Am, I highly suggest you visit their website or facebook page. Their facebook page has a lot of great pictures posted that everyone can take a look at.
www.isaaproam.com
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/ISAA-Pro-Am/157895981690
I had received an email from the Vice President of the archery club stating that they were going to have try-outs to go shoot at the Iowa State Pro Am in Mason City, Iowa. I don't know if I had ever tried out for anything before, but I do know that I was really nervous. I had no idea how many people to expect to try out, or if I even had a chance. I also had no idea what the Pro Am even was, and looking back that's probably a good thing. Had I known the size of this tournament, I more than likely would have chickened out.
Long story short, I went to the shoot (making my roommates come with me because I was scared) and tried out. There were very few people at the shoot, and to my knowledge I think everyone that tried out was able to attend. The tryouts were at the end of the fall semester, and the Pro Am wasn't until the weekend of January 14th so I had a little time to practice over Winter break.
I don't think it was until the ride down to the Pro Am and when I actually walked into the building that I knew what I was getting myself into. I was in awe. This building was huge, and there were people and bows everywhere! I later learned that there were roughly 570 shooters from over 30 states and 3 countries, and we were shooting right along side the pros.
I was extremely lucky to have some very friendly people shooting in my same lane, because otherwise I can promise you that I would have made a pretty big fool of myself. They couldn't believe that I had only been shooting for seven months, or that I had never shot a tournament before coming to the Pro Am. They explained to me how the scoring worked, how much time we had to shoot, when it was my turn to shoot, etc. It wasn't until everyone stepped up to the line with all of their really flashy target bows that I felt really intimidated. Not only was I shooting right next to a pro, but because I'm left-handed I was facing the opposite direction of everyone else. And it didn't help that he was almost as short as me and it felt like my face couldn't get any closer to his. Talk about a distraction...
I posted a couple of pictures below so you can get a feel for the atmosphere. For more pictures or information on the Iowa State Pro Am, I highly suggest you visit their website or facebook page. Their facebook page has a lot of great pictures posted that everyone can take a look at.
www.isaaproam.com
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/ISAA-Pro-Am/157895981690
I'm not sure how familiar everyone is with how the tournament works, but the first day of shooting was an NFAA 360 round. It consisted of 60 arrows shot in 5 arrow ends. The target has two sides, and you can choose to either shoot at the single spot side or the five spot side. An X is worth 6 points, the white spot is worth 5, and the outter two blue rings are worth 4.
The second day was a Vegas 330 round, consisting of 30 arrows shot in 3 arrow ends. Again you could choose to shoot at either the single spot or three spot side. This time the X is worth 11 points, the second yellow ring worth 10 points, the third yellow ring 9 points, and so on.
I believe that I shot a 288 the first night and 256 the second day, for a total of 544. I was extremely satisfied with that score for my first tournament, but that doesn't mean I want to get a score like that again. My goal for next year is to shoot 580, and now that my goal is posted online I guess I'll have to get practicing and hold myself to it!
Even though the Pro Am was a little nerve wracking for me, I had an absolute blast! I think what I enjoyed the most was that there were tons of people there who were extremely knowledgable, and all of them were more than willing to share that knowledge with me and help out. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of the archers are this way, which is awesome for people like myself who really want to learn.
The next tournament I'm planning on attending is the Iowa Deer Classic in Des Moines. It's a 3-day event on February 25th, 26th, and 27th. I've never been to the classic, but I've heard good things. Below is a link for the Iowa Deer Classic, and I hope to see some of you there!
http://www.iowashows.com/Shows/index.cfm?Show_ID=43
Even though the Pro Am was a little nerve wracking for me, I had an absolute blast! I think what I enjoyed the most was that there were tons of people there who were extremely knowledgable, and all of them were more than willing to share that knowledge with me and help out. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of the archers are this way, which is awesome for people like myself who really want to learn.
The next tournament I'm planning on attending is the Iowa Deer Classic in Des Moines. It's a 3-day event on February 25th, 26th, and 27th. I've never been to the classic, but I've heard good things. Below is a link for the Iowa Deer Classic, and I hope to see some of you there!
http://www.iowashows.com/Shows/index.cfm?Show_ID=43
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