"Practice until your idols become your rivals."

The quote from the man who put a bow in my daughter's hands has an even deeper meaning today. Shooting 2 full age divisions up this weekend, our daughter took bronze today!

This truly is my proudest moment of her as an archer. Our daughter who just turned 12 this week, shot against 16 year olds, qualified 5th yesterday and took bronze today. These are the same girls that she has known and looked up to ever since she started competing in archery.

It truly was a roller coaster ride today. True to form, our daughter had to make it high drama. Head to head elimination rounds are drama to begin with. It's a bracket system with competitors shooting next to each other; 5 ends, 3 arrows each, 150 points possible, winner goes on to the next bracket loser is finished for the tournament. In her first round our daughter was down 8 points at the completion of the second end. She battled back to win the round by 2. The semi final round was decided by 2 points.

The bronze medal match was tough. She had to shoot against the daughter of her first coach. Our daughter has looked up to her as a mentor ever since she started in archery. These two girls shot an elimination round earlier this month at the Arizona Cup which ended our daughter's tournament. It was tough on her with a huge mental block of, "I can't beat her." Today she proved that she could.

I cannot thank her friend and rival Amanda enough for the support that she gave our daughter today. Sidelined with an injury, Amanda was not going to be left out. She spent the weekend with us to help out at the tournament and support our daughter. What she did today was amazing. She took over coaching for our daughter. She was on the line spotting for her, calling out sight adjustments for wind and offering support. Amanda truly was an integral part of our daughter getting to the podium today.

A roller coaster of a weekend, I'm just glad I was along for the ride.

Our daughter on the line during the first round of eliminations.


Amanda coaching our daughter. I have no idea what the conversation was, what was said or anything else. All I know is that it worked.


What her competition saw.


All 3 podium winners from her division.


A very proud coach and a very tired daughter.

I can understand how that would be your proudest moment relating to archery. At her young age, to compete against others who are four years older is huge. To then end up taking bronze has to be an enormous confidence builder which should serve her well in the future.

Congratulations to both of you.

Fantastic!
I love reading about her archery adventures.

She might have said "Dad, I've got a wall full of trophies, I want a challenge more than I want another trophy."

But it appears she rose to the challenge AND got another trophy!

Great job Maya (and Dad)!!

Awesome, Maya you are a true, focused, tenacious, iron willed competitor. Congrats, way to roll girl!

Awesome!

Congrats for not only her competitive spirit and talent but the bonds she has built with friends and competitors. That maturity is remarkable for someone of her tender years. Again well done to all!

I continue to be stunned by her confidence and maturity! She will accomplish great things with her attitude, not only in archery, but in many phases of life...

You and your wife should be very proud of her (I know you are!), But you should also take a moment to realize that you are in the very top percentage of successful parents! As a former Scoutmaster, I've seen the complete spectrum of parenting skills, believe me! You folks are on the right track with Maya!

I look forward to many more years of reading your excellent posts!!!

YOU GO, Girl!

Don