An Inside Look at the UC Irvine Archery Club
By Amy Meister
It’s 6:45 a.m. on a foggy Wednesday morning in early March and Archery Club at UC Irvine is already in the middle of their morning practice at the Anteater Recreational Center. Bright eyed and full of energy, their voices bounce off the walls of the backcourt gym. Their secret for waking up for practice before the sun has even risen? “We have a kind of ‘chemistry,’ right Somenan?” says Sean Newell, a third year mechanical engineering student who just joined the archery club last year. “Yes…” says Somenan, the third year pharmaceutical sciences major who also joined last year, as he cracks a smile. The two teammates glance at each other and laugh. “We bond over our shared tiredness and fatigue” (1) (3).
The archery club at UC Irvine is accommodating to anyone who is an undergraduate or graduate student at UC Irvine who is enthusiastic to learn about archery. No experience is needed. They even have certified coaches who can teach you the basics, beginning with how to put your bow together to how to position your body to have the best chance at landing a bulls-eye. Some members of the club even coach for the National Jr. Olympic Program. Vice President Sean Newell claims that their membership has increased by an astounding 300% in the past year with about 40-50 people total on their roster and about 20 of them who participate in competition. They’ve had a huge spike in membership since 2006 when the club was founded by UC Irvine student Allison Zemek. The club originally started out with three members and has been successful in membership increasing since (1).
Archery is not your “typical” sport for a variety of reasons. There is no exchanging of any kind of object among players like in most sports we are used to as a culture, such as soccer, football, or basketball. Aside from the physical skills involved in holding the bow and positioning your body, being able to concentrate and focus your mind is equally, if not more important, than the physical aspect (1). Millions of years ago, being skilled in archery could mean plentiful food supply and protection in battle. The earliest known group of people who actively used archery for hunting and warfare were the Egyptians around 5,000 years ago, although it is highly likely that it was used before then for basic survival needs (2).
Somenan Thach, a third year pharmaceutical sciences major, who didn’t have any prior experience with archery says, “I joined because it was always something that interested me.” Somenan stumbled upon the archery club when he was in the midst of one of his early morning workouts. He is a loyal regular of the gym who shows up at 6 a.m. every day to fit in time for his daily workout. Last year, he caught the archery club during their practice and decided to try it out. Most importantly for him, it is not just a sport or a way to be athletic—it is a social outlet. “They’re weird like me,” Somenan says of his teammates, “In a good way.” To Somenan, competing in archery is not about beating his opponents but more about beating his own score and improving his own capabilities within the sport (3).
Sean is a third year mechanical engineering student who is the current Vice President of the club. With no prior experience with archery and just joining last year, he is already competing in competitions. To be successful in archery, he maintains a positive attitude towards how he performs within the sport. “I don’t like to focus on the negative. When you focus on the negative, it affects how you shoot” (1).
Not everyone uses the same types of bows for shooting. The club uses recurve, as well as compound bows (4). What’s the difference between these, you may be wondering? A recurve bow is typically the kind of bow a beginner would use. The easiest way to distinguish this type of bow is that the edges of the bow curve away from the archer. The compound bows are somewhat similar to recurve bows but they are designed to suit the more advanced archer. The bow has a bit more intensive design to it, featuring different pulleys to help with accuracy. (5)
The club encourages anyone who wants to try archery to come out to one of the practices. With a friendly kind of atmosphere, interested in competing or not, he club can certainly be a recreational and supportive group outlet for UC Irvine students to take advantage of.
Sources:
(1) Interview with Sean Newell (Club Vice President)
(2) http://www.archeryresource.com/history-of-archery.php
(3) Interview with Somenan Thach (club member)
(4) https://www.facebook.com/UCIArcheryClub/info
(5) http://library.thinkquest.org/27344/typebows.htm
(6) Interview with Juan Garibay (Club President)
(7) http://www.campusrec.uci.edu/club/archery.asp
By Amy Meister
It’s 6:45 a.m. on a foggy Wednesday morning in early March and Archery Club at UC Irvine is already in the middle of their morning practice at the Anteater Recreational Center. Bright eyed and full of energy, their voices bounce off the walls of the backcourt gym. Their secret for waking up for practice before the sun has even risen? “We have a kind of ‘chemistry,’ right Somenan?” says Sean Newell, a third year mechanical engineering student who just joined the archery club last year. “Yes…” says Somenan, the third year pharmaceutical sciences major who also joined last year, as he cracks a smile. The two teammates glance at each other and laugh. “We bond over our shared tiredness and fatigue” (1) (3).
The archery club at UC Irvine is accommodating to anyone who is an undergraduate or graduate student at UC Irvine who is enthusiastic to learn about archery. No experience is needed. They even have certified coaches who can teach you the basics, beginning with how to put your bow together to how to position your body to have the best chance at landing a bulls-eye. Some members of the club even coach for the National Jr. Olympic Program. Vice President Sean Newell claims that their membership has increased by an astounding 300% in the past year with about 40-50 people total on their roster and about 20 of them who participate in competition. They’ve had a huge spike in membership since 2006 when the club was founded by UC Irvine student Allison Zemek. The club originally started out with three members and has been successful in membership increasing since (1).
Archery is not your “typical” sport for a variety of reasons. There is no exchanging of any kind of object among players like in most sports we are used to as a culture, such as soccer, football, or basketball. Aside from the physical skills involved in holding the bow and positioning your body, being able to concentrate and focus your mind is equally, if not more important, than the physical aspect (1). Millions of years ago, being skilled in archery could mean plentiful food supply and protection in battle. The earliest known group of people who actively used archery for hunting and warfare were the Egyptians around 5,000 years ago, although it is highly likely that it was used before then for basic survival needs (2).
Somenan Thach, a third year pharmaceutical sciences major, who didn’t have any prior experience with archery says, “I joined because it was always something that interested me.” Somenan stumbled upon the archery club when he was in the midst of one of his early morning workouts. He is a loyal regular of the gym who shows up at 6 a.m. every day to fit in time for his daily workout. Last year, he caught the archery club during their practice and decided to try it out. Most importantly for him, it is not just a sport or a way to be athletic—it is a social outlet. “They’re weird like me,” Somenan says of his teammates, “In a good way.” To Somenan, competing in archery is not about beating his opponents but more about beating his own score and improving his own capabilities within the sport (3).
Sean is a third year mechanical engineering student who is the current Vice President of the club. With no prior experience with archery and just joining last year, he is already competing in competitions. To be successful in archery, he maintains a positive attitude towards how he performs within the sport. “I don’t like to focus on the negative. When you focus on the negative, it affects how you shoot” (1).
Not everyone uses the same types of bows for shooting. The club uses recurve, as well as compound bows (4). What’s the difference between these, you may be wondering? A recurve bow is typically the kind of bow a beginner would use. The easiest way to distinguish this type of bow is that the edges of the bow curve away from the archer. The compound bows are somewhat similar to recurve bows but they are designed to suit the more advanced archer. The bow has a bit more intensive design to it, featuring different pulleys to help with accuracy. (5)
The club encourages anyone who wants to try archery to come out to one of the practices. With a friendly kind of atmosphere, interested in competing or not, he club can certainly be a recreational and supportive group outlet for UC Irvine students to take advantage of.
Sources:
(1) Interview with Sean Newell (Club Vice President)
(2) http://www.archeryresource.com/history-of-archery.php
(3) Interview with Somenan Thach (club member)
(4) https://www.facebook.com/UCIArcheryClub/info
(5) http://library.thinkquest.org/27344/typebows.htm
(6) Interview with Juan Garibay (Club President)
(7) http://www.campusrec.uci.edu/club/archery.asp