HCS ARCHERS GO TO NATIONALS AGAIN

Last June, Micayla Strickland and her family piled into their truck, headed south, to compete against top archers in the United States. “Going to Daytona was stressful. It was just me—one kid in a bright red shirt and all those people,” she says. Over 5,000 top contenders attended the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) 2024 Championship. Micayla mastered her nerves and scored a personal best, placing fourth in her age division.

The sixth grader at Harvest Community School (HCS) joined the archery team four years ago on a whim. “I thought it was going to be a one-year thing because I didn’t think I was going to be good at it,” Micayla laughs. A growing trophy collection inspired her to stick with the ancient sport. She hopes to win scholarship money some day.​

Kristie Anderson founded the team many years ago to give her son, and later her daughter, a sport. Archery is perfect for small schools like Harvest because boys and girls train and compete together. For arrows to fly true, archers must hone their attention, self-control, and patience—habits fostered at school. Sure shooting requires solid coaching, so Coach Kristie and, three years later, Coach Tina Proffit became certified instructors. On Wednesdays, thirty archers practice under their direction in downtown Summerton. The coaches have spent many long hours practicing, fundraising, and driving to tournaments.

Micayla’s teammate Sera McCoon is a junior at Harvest. Last year, she qualified for state as a first-year archer but did not make nationals. Instead, she competed at Centershot, an alternate tournament for those who missed the cut-off.  Competing at a national level inspired Sera to work harder this year.

At the end of February, she and six Harvest archers went to the fairgrounds in Columbia for the state competition. Sera was nursing a shoulder injury from dance class and still placed fifth, one point shy of tying for third place. She was the only one to qualify for Eastern Nationals in Louisville.

Like Sera, sixth grader Leon Bullard went to state in his first year. “Archery is what I should be doing. I had tried multiple other sports beforehand and none of them came easily to me.” Leon caught on so quickly that he shot a 213 at his first tournament. At state, he got his personal best.

Because Sera is going to nationals, her teammates are eligible for Centershot this year. Micayla, Leon, and Chris Buck are going to get more experience at this Christian ministry that builds community in the great outdoors through archery. Chris, a tenth grader, is one of several homeschoolers on the team. Arrows take a beating, and he has mastered the art of putting the fletchings back on the shaft. He knows all the tricks that keep arrows crisp and pristine.

When asked how they prepare for tournaments, the archers gave different answers. “A hundred arrows a day will keep you where you are. Two hundred will show improvement, ” Sera quotes Coach Kristie. Since she juggles dual enrollment classes with extra-curricular activities, Sera shoots four hundred arrows at a time when she can. Leon recounts, “I gradually increased how much I practiced to allow me to get used to it, instead of shooting 200 arrows at first.” Micayla admits that she doesn’t practice much and adds, “Leon comes to my house and bugs me.”

Sophomore Blake Proffit has been on the team since third grade. Besides the coaches, he appreciates two people. Charlie Broadway, owner of Summerton Hardware, allows them to practice in an empty lot near the store. Before that, the team set up and took down the range on the playground every week. 

A few years ago, competitive archer and instructor Lawrence Scott moved to Summerton. Blake says that he is a big name in NASP circles. Mr. Scotty contacted the team and volunteered to help coach. Not only does he keep the bows in shape, but he trained Chris to take over arrow maintenance. Sera credits her growth to his encouragement and coaching. “Mr. Scotty helps me to finesse my technique and tells me when I’m off.”

Community is what Harvest values a lot. School and homeschool families, local businesses and volunteers, and national organizations and ministries united to mentor young archers in making memories this weekend and learning life-long skills.