Summit Charter School Archers Head to Championship Tournament

Issue: Whats News

Summit Charter School began a new archery program just two years ago, however, the school already has archers participating in the Championship Tournament in Daytona Beach, FL, on June 8, 2024.

“For a young program, our archers have come a long way, very quickly,” explains archery coach Orlando Buck. “We started using the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) by first learning to shoot a bow and arrow safely from seven meters. Now, our archers are attracting attention at the state and national levels.”

The North Carolina Wildlife and Resources Commission provided a grant to cover most of the initial equipment cost and coach certification training through NASP. Generous local donors provided the remaining funds needed, and the archery program at Summit Charter School began in earnest.

“The first few months we practiced learning the 11 Steps to Archery Success,” Buck said. “Archers learn the importance of shooting the same way every time and taking time to reflect on what went well and what needs to be adjusted for the next shot. It was exciting to see someone hit a bullseye those first few months!”

Being a part of the archery program takes commitment. Students begin arriving at the Summit Center gym at 6:45 am to set up the range, then begin shooting at 7:00 am. “I am proud of the commitment all of our archers make,” Buck said. “Requiring students to come to school even earlier in the morning for an extracurricular activity, and them doing it, is a BIG ask.”

Coach Buck continued to prepare Summit archers for the challenges of competition. “To compete in tournaments archers must be able to shoot from 10-meter and 15-meter distances. I remember the first tournament we participated in down in Hickory, N.C. The kids were nervous but knew what they needed to do. They ended up surprising themselves with how well they did and also saw the opportunities they had for growth.”

The surprises kept coming. This year, Summit archers competed in tournaments across North and South Carolina, including the first-ever Archery on the Summit, hosted by the Summit archery program. “Success brings success. The number of archers joining the program each year has grown and our archers have grown in their abilities, too,” Buck said. “As a small school, we qualified to compete in the North Carolina State Bullseye Tournament this year. Our team had to compete as a high school team even though the team is made up of 4th through 12th grade archers.”

“Every tournament we participated in this year, including the North Carolina State Bullseye Tournament, our archers improved their scores, earning new personal bests,” Buck said. “As a team, we placed 6th out of 13 high school teams at State. But we were the only high school team with elementary, middle, and high school archers,” Buck continued. “We were so close to making the NASP National Tournament as a team! It was exciting to see!”

Even though Summit’s archery team did not qualify for the NASP National Tournament, two archers qualified as individual shooters. “Archery is both a team and individual sport,” Buck said. “Everyone competes against themselves to earn a higher score every time they shoot. Two of our archers, 8th grade student Zoe Zimmer and 11th grade student Kendalyn Buck, both shot scores that qualified them to shoot in the NASP National Tournament in Louisville, KY.”

The NASP National Tournament was held in Louisville, KY, on May 9-11 with both Zimmer and Buck competing. “Both girls shot new personal bests at the NASP National Tournament,” Buck said. “The event was electric! Over 800 archers could shoot at one time with 14,500 archers competing in the East Coast tournament. We’ve never participated in a tournament that large and with such notoriety. It was an honor to represent Summit Charter School on such a large stage.”

Over 18,000 archers participated in the East Coast and West Coast NASP National Tournaments. “To stand out of a crowd of 18,000 archers is tough to do. However, both Zoe and Kendalyn shot new personal bests at Nationals. Zoe earned 282 points (out of 300) and Kendalyn earned 279,” Coach Buck said. “These scores qualify both girls for the NASP Championship Tournament in Daytona Beach, FL.” Both Summit archers will be shooting on Saturday, June 8, in the Ocean Center.

“I am very proud of both of these young ladies! Earning a spot at the NASP Championship Tournament is not easy. There are only 3000 spots available to the 18,000 archers who participated in the NASP National Tournaments, and Summit was able to earn two of those spots,” Coach Buck stated. “Thousands of dollars of scholarships are given away at the NASP Championship Tournament. How great would it be to see Summit archers receive some of that scholarship money?!”

“No matter what happens at the NASP Championship Tournament, Zoe and Kendalyn, and the rest of the Summit Archery Team, have so much to be proud of,” Buck said. “We will continue to practice the 11 Steps to Archery Success and learn new techniques that will help us achieve success on the archery range and in the classroom. That’s ultimately why the program works – students learn skills that help them succeed in everything they do in life.”

Summit will be hosting an archery camp for new and existing archers in July as they prepare for the upcoming season for rising 4th through 12th grade students. “I look forward to seeing the Summit Archery Team continue to grow and achieve more than they think they can. Zoe and Kendalyn are proof that it is possible.”

For more information about the Summit archery program, email Coach Buck at [email protected].