Alexandria Sherman

Little did Alex(andria) Sherman know when she first enrolled in her freshman PE class (archery) that she was going to discover a sport she would excel in and one that would help her grow in overall confidence and ability.

She soon joined her school’s archery team, which practiced after school November through May each school year. There are 50 kids on the archery team, so two shooting lines are needed for everyone to get a chance to shoot.

And practice is what it is all about for Alex. “It takes a while to get into it,” Alex says. “You have to take hundreds and hundreds of shots to get your form down. But that’s what it comes down to…you have to do the same thing every time.”

“For example, you really have to focus on your breathing. You never release full of breath. It will throw your shot off.”

The phys ed archery class Alex first enrolled in was part of the three-year-old National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), which started slowly and enjoyed an extremely high growth rate across the country.

For example, there used to be only one NASP tournament, at the national level. Now states have their own qualifying tournaments, and individuals and teams have to either win their state tournaments or score very high in order to qualify for the national tournament. About 865 archers competed in the NASP tournament in 2009.

At state tournaments, archers shoot 30 arrows, each with a maximum score of 120 points each for hitting the bullseye. With the highest possible score being 300, it usually takes a score of at least 290 or 285 to win a state tournament or to qualify for the national tournament.

The 2010 Arnold Archery Competition, the 4th annual Ohio National Archery in the Schools Program, will be held Friday, Mar. 5, at Franklin County Veterans Memorial, North Hall. Archery is one of 40 events featured this year at the Arnold Sports Festival, March 4-7, 2010.

Alex’s mom, Kelly, describes her as …very dedicated, independent, bright, strong-willed….I think self-motivated describes her best.” Those character traits help Alex stand out in another way…the bow she uses is pink, a specially designed Genesis bow that stands out from the bows used by many. The “Pink Lemonade” bow is modeled after a custom-painted pink bow used last year by archer Morgan Floyd, whose mother was battling breast cancer. The Genesis bow manufacturer donates a portion of the sale of every “Pink Lemonade” bow to fund cancer research.