Teaching archery at Camp Rockmont in Swannanoa N.C. during the summer provides Jim, Bud and I the opportunity to teach boys from all over the world. Bud and I teach six days a week at camp and Jim comes three to four days a week after he gets off work. We get numerous emails from the campers after they return home to tell us how they have taken up archery and have gotten their friends involved as well. It is an honor to teach these boys the sport we love, but more times than not, they teach us far more than we teach them.
The first day of each session is “safety day,” the boys that have been to camp previous summers have learned that “safety day” is a standard and to make it quicker they answer the safety questions to help the boys that are new to archery. We go over all the rules of the shooting deck and the safety rules. Safety day cuts into shooting time on the first day; the boys are anxious to get to their stations and fire the arrows from the Mathews Genesis bows down range at the large, round, field targets.
After we finished with safety we put them in their stations and they await the familiar call: “Shooters Safe, Step to your Stations, Shooters fire.” Usually on the first day due to the safety lecture, they only get to shoot two rounds. We tell them if they have questions or need help when it’s their turn at the line to let us know.
During the second session this summer one of the boys called for me to come help him when it was his turn to step to the line. This was his first time shooting a bow and he was a little nervous. He would only get to shoot one round today since we had safety day and he had to wait his turn. He was between nine and ten years old with big brown eyes and a shock of dark hair. He looked up at me and said “Coach, can you help me, I have never shot a bow before.” I smiled at him and said “Sure I can, but you have to tell me your name first if we are going to be a team.” He smiled shyly and said, “My name is Charlie m'am.” “Well, Charlie, pick up the bow and load an arrow and let’s see what kind of team we can be together,” was my reply.
He picked up the bow and loaded and arrow like we had taught him, being careful to aim down range as he was loading. He started to draw the bow but was unable to pull the sting back. The Mathews Genesis was set at about 12 lbs and I noticed that his right arm and hand was in an odd position when he was trying to draw. I told Charlie that I had a bow with lower poundage that he might have better luck with and went to the shed and brought back a Brave bow with a draw weight of around 6 lbs. We use these bows for the younger boys at camp. He again loaded the arrow and began to draw the string with difficulty. As he drew the bow his elbow on his right arm was down at his waist. I explained to him that at Camp Rockmont we are eagles and we have to get our wings up so we can soar. I showed him how to hold his arm, with his elbow up, so when he drew he could draw the string back to full draw. He looked up and me and said “I can’t do that Coach. My wrist is fused so it is part of my hand so I can’t get my arm to do that. I’m not going to be able to shoot am I?"
About that time the bugle sounded letting them know it was time to switch skills. Charlie stood there with a very dejected look on his face and ask me if he was going to have to switch out of archery. I looked in his big brown eyes and said, “No, you won’t have to switch.” I told him if he would give me a chance and be willing to try some different ways of shooting, I would come up with a way that he could shoot. He looked at me for a long moment and said “I’ll try.” “Alright then, I will see you on Wednesday and we will work through this,” was my reply. He walked off the deck toward his next skill and still had that doubtful look on his face.
We work with children and adults with all types of disabilities but this one was a little different. I wondered how many times he had been told that he could not participate in certain activities due to his wrist. I made up my mind that archery would not be one of them; I would find a way for Charlie to shoot and keep my unspoken promise to him.
I told the counselors that assist Bud and me with archery that I would be devoting my time during that skill to Charlie until I could get him shooting with which they all agreed. I couldn’t wait to get home and discuss it with Jim; we had to come up with some way for Charlie to shoot and brain storming problems together is what we do best.
Jim’s first suggestion was a release aid. I told him I didn’t know if it would cause pain since his wrist was fused but I would take my Tru-Ball Copperhead release with me and try it. I told Jim that I didn’t have enough time to work with Charlie to see what his limitations were but on Wednesday I would have the full 50-minute skill time to work with him.
Wednesday morning rolled around and Charlie came to archery still with doubt clearly showing on his face. We called roll and sent the campers to their stations. As I walked to Charlie’s station Bud gave the deck commands and the arrows began flying their way to the targets.
Charlie smiled shyly and I ask him if he was ready, he said “Yes m'am, if you really think I can do it.” I asked him if he could put the release around his wrist and showed him on my wrist how it would fit, but he told me that he could not put anything around his wrist - that it hurt. Again I got hit with the look of defeat from Charlie and I have to admit that my heart sank a little as well. “Alright Charlie, can you turn your hand over with your palm out and your elbow up and draw the string?” He picked up the bow and loaded an arrow. I showed him how to turn his hand over, palm out, his index finger was below the arrow nock with his second finger on top of the nock. He stood there for a minute before he began to draw and I sent up a little prayer hoping it would work. He began to draw the string back and got it to full draw. I told him to release the arrow liked we had showed him and he opened his fingers and the arrow went speeding toward the target. It missed.
I had been standing beside Charlie to see if he showed any pain when he drew, he had not. He looked at me and a smile crept across his face. “I missed the target Coach, but I shot the bow!” “You sure did Charlie! Now I am going to stand behind you and help you aim so you will know where to hold. Wait just a second before you shoot again. I am going to go get you an arm guard since you are having to hold your bow arm a little straighter than usual so you don’t get hit by the string." He patiently waited till I got back and fitted the arm guard. I stood behind him and he loaded another arrow; he only needed a little direction and the second arrow hit the target. I could have yelled at the top of my lungs I was so excited but didn’t want to scare the boys. Charlie looked back and me and said “I did it Coach, you're right; we are a great team. I did it and it hit the target.”
Needless to say, the doubt that Charlie had on his face was quickly replaced with confidence with every arrow that he shot. He told me that his Dad shot a bow and hunted but he didn’t think Charlie would be able to shoot a bow due to his wrist. He told me that he was going to write a letter home and tell his Dad that he could shoot a bow and that he would work for the money to buy his own. Charlie told me that he did chores and received an allowance for doing so; he thought he could work out enough money to buy a bow in about three weeks.
Every day that Charlie came to archery, his shooting got better with each shot. He told me that he knew that shooting with his hand upside down was different from how everyone else shot. I told him that it might not be as different as he thought and that on the last day of the session I would prove it to him. He just smiled, loaded another arrow and sent it sailing toward the target. I have to give the other boys that shot in the station with Charlie a special tip of the hat; they were all very encouraging.
On the last day of each session I take my bow and shoot for the boys. I give them my special Rockmont autograph, I shoot their shirts or hats and they all think that is the coolest thing ever. I take my Mathews LX which is root beer colored and set up for tournaments and I also take the Mathews Drenalin along so they can see my hunting set up. When I was ready to shoot, I called Charlie over to me and ask him to stand by me so he could watch me shoot. I use a hand held Tru-Ball Xtreme release with my LX. I loaded one of my Carbon Express 150 3D selects and attached the release to the string. As I began to draw I rolled my hand over to anchor and heard Charlie say in a whisper “she shoots like me.” I touched off the arrow and it hit its mark. I looked at Charlie and ask if he would like to help me shoot, he nodded his head yes. I told him to stand behind me and showed him how the release worked and told him that when I shot the next arrow he could touch off the release. Again the doubt came over his face. “You can do it Charlie. Remember we are a team." He smiled and again told me he would try. I loaded an arrow and drew the string to full draw, he eased his thumb on top of mine and we counted to three, he gently touched off the release and again the arrow found its mark. “We are a team Coach and we shoot the same way” was his reply.
The other campers were excited for Charlie. I was in disbelief that none of them ask if they could help me shoot, I think they knew how special that was to Charlie and wanted to keep it that way.
Charlie left at the end of his session. My hope is that he took with him the confidence that he can do anything he puts his mind to, even if he has to find a different way to do it. We found out from his counselors after he left camp that he had some anger issues. We never saw it in archery; all we saw was his confidence soar like the eagles we strive to be. Jim told me that maybe I was the one person that really made a difference in his life. We all have someone that we will never forget for helping us along the way. I know that Jim and my Dad gave me the confidence I needed when I started shooting. They never gave up on me and we didn’t give up on Charlie.
I don’t know if I am that person to Charlie but I can tell you I will never forget him and the special lessons he taught us this summer. We can all soar on the wings of eagles if we are willing to spread our wings and try.
