- April 16, 2024
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Most elementary students would probably like to sleep in on school days. Or perhaps go home and play some video games when school gets out.
But not 23 students at Belle Terre Elementary School.
This group gets to school early. And stays late.
That’s because they are members of the Belle Terre Elementary School Bobcats archery team, and they just took second at the National Archery in the Schools Program state competition.
The team, coached by Phil Drosdick, is in its fourth year. And every year, they have placed in the state competition, beginning with third place in the first year and winning the state title last year.
In fact, this year, the team scored 100 points better than last year’s team, but still got beaten by 94 points.
This year’s team scored 2,773 points, losing to Lakeland Christian.
“We had a lot of first-time kids and fourth-graders who were never in competitions, but they were there, and they are coming back (next year),” Drosdick said.
One highlight of the competition was when Connor Hampton, who is in fifth grade, received the sportsmanship award for the way he acted at last year’s competition. He finished tied for first last year, but eventually lost in a shoot-off.
The competitions are conducted in Olympic-style format. Each archer gets 15 shots from two distances — 15 meters and 10 meters. The smallest circle closest to the bullseye is worth 10 points, and the points decrease the farther the arrow lands from the center. The maximum points are 150 per distance, or 300 for all 30 shots.
The team at Belle Terre has steadily grown and improved, Drosdick’s ultimate goal is to get archery teams at every school throughout the district.
“If the sport grows, I won’t have to fight that battle — the parents will,” Drosdick said.
And why do these students love archery? “I’s nothing like what they get to do in elementary school gym,” Drosdick said.
Follow @aobrien7 on Twitter.
