Day 1 of Outdoor Nationals is official practice day. After sleeping in late she got out there and got both bows sighted in. She also got acquainted with southern heat and humidity, she doesn't like it. Day 2 is the first day of qualifications and she shoots the morning line. Friday is the second day of qualifications in the afternoon. Saturday is eliminations starting in the morning.

Link to live scoring below for those who want to follow. She's shooting in the Compound Cub Women division.

http://www.betweenends.com/tournament/85

The surprise today, world champion Reo Wilde came out to shoot with the kids and that's our daughter right next to him. USA Archery's media team interviewed her on camera and asked what she thought about shooting next to him. Her response, "It's just Reo FRICKIN' Wilde!" Actually very cool, I know of no other sport where the stars make themselves so accessible to the up and coming athletes.


I've wanted to get a picture from this angle for a while now and finally managed to do it. Great picture to show the geometry of a shoot through riser.


Sporting the team colors at Nationals. And yes, those are the new arrows in her quiver that were built at the last minute.


Full draw.


About a millisecond after releasing an arrow.

I know that humidity is a killer. Good luck, Maya!

Go Maya!! It's incredible how fast they grow when you don't see them everyday.

My youngest daughter is home from college for the summer, working as a lifeguard at 2 different places. Physical changes over lost time are astounding.

Great stuff!!

Do you know of a young man out of Snellville, GA that is a phenom? I believe he has been on the scene 5 years or less and might have lost quite a bit of weight through the sport. I ask because he was shooting at an indoor range there when my son was at an open practice. Pretty awesome to watch and the guy behind the counter said he was ranked.

Also, this is the first time I have seen Maya without glasses, did switching to contacts or no glasses change anything in her shooting?

Good luck Maya. Now you believe the "but it's a dry heat saying."

Glad you were able to build the arrows.
Please keep us posted on her progress.

Always a joy to follow along.
Those last 2 shots are all business & focus.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
Great stuff!!

Do you know of a young man out of Snellville, GA that is a phenom?

Possibly,but I would need a name. Georgia is kind of a hot spot for archery. George Ryals runs the Archery Learning Center in Snellville and has built quite a reputation and a team.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
Also, this is the first time I have seen Maya without glasses, did switching to contacts or no glasses change anything in her shooting?

Nope, her glasses fogged in the humidity this morning and she decided that she didn't need them to see the yellow target center in her scope.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
Great stuff!!

Do you know of a young man out of Snellville, GA that is a phenom?

Possibly,but I would need a name. Georgia is kind of a hot spot for archery. George Ryals runs the Archery Learning Center in Snellville and has built quite a reputation and a team.

I wish I could remember the name. I remember more of the story the counter person told. Young boy (high school age) came into the sport was overweight and timid. Got good at it, graduated from I believe Georgia Tech, had dropped the weight, muscled up, and designed a release for the sport. I might be wrong on the college and piece of gear. The young man had dark blonde to light brown hair and by my estimation, 5'10" or taller.

He was shooting the smallest target at the longest distance and it sounded like fast balls hitting a catcher's mitt.

As I recall the claim was he was the top male in his bracket? Guessing 22-24 years old. For some reason Cody comes to mind, not sure how silly details got cemented but the name vaporized.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
Also, this is the first time I have seen Maya without glasses, did switching to contacts or no glasses change anything in her shooting?

Nope, her glasses fogged in the humidity this morning and she decided that she didn't need them to see the yellow target center in her scope.

Wearing them slightly farther down her nose will help the fogging. Also, it is worse going from AC to outdoor. It might be worth leaving them in a warmer spot on the ride to the site.

StI'll appreciate learning about the sport from two (sometimes more ) angles.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
Great stuff!!

Do you know of a young man out of Snellville, GA that is a phenom?

Possibly,but I would need a name. Georgia is kind of a hot spot for archery. George Ryals runs the Archery Learning Center in Snellville and has built quite a reputation and a team.

I wish I could remember the namI remember more of the story the counter person told. Young boy (high school age) came into the sport was overweight and timid. Got good at it, graduated from I believe Georgia Tech, had dropped the weight, muscled up, and designed a release for the sport. I might be wrong on the college and piece of gear. The young man had dark blonde to light brown hair and by my estimation, 5'10" or taller.

He was shooting the smallest target at the longest distance and it sounded like fast balls hitting a catcher's mitt.

As I recall the claim was he was the top male in his bracket? Guessing 22-24 years old. For some reason Cody comes to mind, not sure how silly details got cemented but the name vaporized.

I think you are thinking of Kolby Hanley. I never met him but our head coach knows him and has talked about him a lot. I'm not sure if he coached him or shot with him or how he knows him. Archery world is small though.

Yeah, her glasses need to warm to ambient temperature in the humidity. Otherwise you'll get condensation, just like on a cold glass of beer.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I think you are thinking of Kolby Hanley. I never met him but our head coach knows him and has talked about him a lot. I'm not sure if he coached him or shot with him or how he knows him. Archery world is small though.

You are correct. That is the young man. Apologies if any of the details were wrong. I watched from feet away pretty much at the line and could never see his release. He drew, held, released, and the bow pivoted down. I could tell I was seeing awesome, but likely couldn't appreciate what I saw. His dad was with him that night and nurtured several parents concerned about getting into archery.

Reading threads like this one helped me appreciate what I saw though at a very simple level.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I think you are thinking of Kolby Hanley. I never met him but our head coach knows him and has talked about him a lot. I'm not sure if he coached him or shot with him or how he knows him. Archery world is small though.

You are correct. That is the young man. Apologies if any of the details were wrong. I watched from feet away pretty much at the line and could never see his release. He drew, held, released, and the bow pivoted down. I could tell I was seeing awesome, but likely couldn't appreciate what I saw. His dad was with him that night and nurtured several parents concerned about getting into archery.

Reading threads like this one helped me appreciate what I saw though at a very simple level.

I admit that I really miss coaching football and baseball. I had an opportunity to coach middle school football which I really wanted to do but my son found archery which forced him to quit pretty much everything else. And I wanted to follow him.

But as much as I miss those sports I do love archery. I love the sport and the family we have already found through it. I think overall it is an amazing sport for a kid to be involved in. It is much harder for me to coach since I never shot a bow at the levels that I played baseball and football but I am still extremely happy that we found this sport.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
She also got acquainted with southern heat and humidity, she doesn't like it.

None of us like it either.

Good luck! I will be out of town otherwise I would be there watching. I look forward to your updates though.

quote:

She also got acquainted with southern heat and humidity, she doesn't like it.

Tell her to look at the bright side... SHE gets to go home. We're stuck here!

Great pics! Best of luck this weekend - Go Maya!

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I think you are thinking of Kolby Hanley. I never met him but our head coach knows him and has talked about him a lot. I'm not sure if he coached him or shot with him or how he knows him. Archery world is small though.

You are correct. That is the young man. Apologies if any of the details were wrong. I watched from feet away pretty much at the line and could never see his release. He drew, held, released, and the bow pivoted down. I could tell I was seeing awesome, but likely couldn't appreciate what I saw. His dad was with him that night and nurtured several parents concerned about getting into archery.

Reading threads like this one helped me appreciate what I saw though at a very simple level.

That would be this guy:

http://www.news.gatech.edu/201...2018-inventure-prize