Bull's-Eye

By Kelly Sharp

                           Silvertip Archers Youth Class

The small Silvertip Archers facility does not do justice for the largest junior archery program in BC.

“We are bursting at the seams,” Carolyn Kelly, the Silvertip Archers junior coordinator said.

There is a waiting list to join the 145 member youth program for archers aged eight to nineteen. Combine the flourishing adult program and the Silvertip Archers is for all generations.

“I have seen three generations all on the firing line at once, the son, his mom and grandfather,” said Kelly.

The youth archer can gauge his or her progress through the junior Olympic program, a 22 level program monitoring points achieved at 80, 60 and 40 centimeter targets. Only eight archers in the provincial wide junior Olympic program have completed all levels, five shoot for the Silvertip Archers.

From using a Bare Bow to Compound (bow with all the bells and whistles) archers pursue their own competitive level.

Silvertip Archers Jaycee Briscoe and Katlyn O’Brien are vying for the BC Canada Winter Games team.

“I really like the repetitiveness of the sport,” fourteen year-old Briscoe said.

“It makes you want to be the best your can be.”

Thomas Scully is well aware of what is possible in a sport combining mental focus with eye-hand coordination. The twenty year-old Silvertip Archers instructor has competed on the national and international archery stage. When asked what advice he would pass on to his young archery student.

“Keep practicing,”Scully said.

“Learn consistency over accuracy.”

The history of the Silvertip Archers goes back to 1954, but the longest established archery club in British Columbia is still a place for encouragement and to help archers reach their goals.

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