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Daughter Featured In Newspaper Article...

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http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/28/the-hunger-games-and-brave-spark-interest-in/

Since "The Hunger Games" opened in March and "Brave" hit screens this month — both movies about young female archers — the interest in archery has increased among young people.

First introduced as a trilogy of books by author Suzanne Collins, "The Hunger Games" features protagonist Katniss Everdeen, who uses a bow and arrow against opponents attempting to kill her as part of a series of games administered by the government.

Nationally, many archery facilities have noticed a flurry of eager students signing up for summer classes.

Teresa Iaconi, director of marketing and public relations for USA Archery, the official organization for the U.S. Olympic archery team, said the films are "bringing the sport to the forefront of pop culture."

Ty Davis, owner of Everything Archery in Raleigh, said the archery range hasn't seen such a large interest from students since the release of Kevin Costner's film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" in 1991.

"I'm quite happy with the increase. The future of archery is in the young people," Davis said. The Georgia native has owned the archery range for roughly 20 years and has practiced archery since age 13.

Many register for archery lessons to prepare for the hunting season in August, Davis said, but the majority of the new students don't intend to use their new skills for hunting game, even though Katniss Everdeen does hunt birds in the movie.

While the ratio of male and female students has been balanced, Davis said girls are usually easier to teach.

"Young men usually want to do this as a macho thing," Davis said. "Ladies tend to want to do this for sport, and they're willing to learn. They're easier to teach because they listen."

Everything Archery offers individual classes and weekly Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) classes on Friday nights for youths ages 9 to 18.

Students learn the basics of the sport based upon the Olympic training system. Each student starts with a standard introductory bow used in target and recreational archery. Compound bows, which use cables and pulleys to shoot arrows, are generally used for hunting.

"It all starts with the stance," Davis said.

"And then it's all right here in the head," he said.

While it builds upper-body strength and improves one's posture, Davis said archery influences the mind as well.

"The development of the form requires positive thinking," Davis said. "That, I think, benefits the young people."

Claire Lee, 10, developed an interest in archery when she read "The Hunger Games" books in January. The fifth-grader, who also practices ballet, is part of the Junior Olympic Archery Development classes and enjoys seeing female archers portrayed in popular films.

"I guess I like the shooting. I plan on going to the Olympics when I'm 16," she said.

But 12-year-old archer Elizabeth Gunterman is not as intrigued by the female archers in movies.

"I think it's cool that girls are in the movies," Elizabeth said, "but I know some of them (female archers in movies) are just acting. They're not archers in real life." Practicing Saturday at Everything Archery, she wore her hair braided to the side, the same style Katniss Everdeen wears in the movie.

Elizabeth said her role model is a friend and fellow archer. The two coach each other when practicing and support each other's progress. Elizabeth holds the title as Tennessee State Champion in the indoor archery division and placed fifth in the National Field Archery Association competition in Kentucky. She said she plans to continue her progress in the sport and eventually compete in the Olympics.

"That's been my goal since I started," she said.

Her mother, Karen Gunterman, said she has seen a tremendous change in her daughter since she started practicing archery.

"I'm proud of her. She really likes it, and she definitely has the potential to go to the Olympics," Gunterman said.

Karen Gunterman is now a second-class instructor at Everything Archery, assisting in the Friday and Saturday classes. She said since "The Hunger Games" was released, Davis has ordered four extra batches of the standard training bows.

But Davis thinks most of the new students will place their new equipment on the wall after a few months of lessons.

"With this spike, it might be, you know, a fad more than a trend," Davis said. "Fads come and go. Trends remain."

© 2012 Memphis Commercial Appeal. All rights res

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Her hair in a side ponytail like heroine Katniss Everdeen in the recent film "The Hunger Games," Elizabeth Gunterman, 11, lines up her shot during a recent practice at Everything Archery in Raleigh. Elizabeth competes in state and national archery competitions.

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Elizabeth Gunterman sports a hot pink quiver to hold her arrows during a practice at Everything Archery Saturday afternoon.

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Good deal !!! I'm glad to see some people are still using recurve bow even if it is a high tech one and their fingers not one of those new triggers. I guess that's what their called really don't know.

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Ugg... I still have nightmares about my High School Archery Class and the bruises I earned from those recurve bows.

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My daughter, oldest son, and myself are involved in the local 4H Archery program. We got started towards the end of the summer last year and now my youngest son is requesting to get involved. He met the minimum age requirements, but lacked the maturity and interest when we started last year. It's been loads of fun and we're all looking forward to it starting up again in a couple months.

I started out my son and daughter with bare bow recurves, so that they would learn "the hard way" before getting the option to move on to sights and compounds. My son decided to move on to a compound bow, but my daughter still holds to the bare recurve. She's quite the force to be reckoned with, too. She's currently 10 and manages to wield a 20 lb bow with ease. Oddly, there were only 5 or 6 other kids that used bows with a heavier draw and all were much older then she. My oldest son show a significant improvement when using the compound with a sight.

Ugg... I still have nightmares about my High School Archery Class and the bruises I earned from those recurve bows.

The dark ages of learning archery? I've heard horror stories from some of the parents and instructors. It's very possible you weren't being shown proper technique, as the string really shouldn't come in contact with your arm at all, but that's neither here or there.

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The dark ages of learning archery? I've heard horror stories from some of the parents and instructors. It's very possible you weren't being shown proper technique, as the string really shouldn't come in contact with your arm at all, but that's neither here or there.

LOL It WASN'T my ARM...... My left breast got all the abuse and bruises...

:head_hurts_kr:

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LOL It WASN'T my ARM...... My left breast got all the abuse and bruises...

:head_hurts_kr:

Oh Man! I forgot about that aspect... I know that there is protective gear available to prevent that sort of thing now.

I know all too well what the bite from a 65# recurve feels like on the forearm, I can only imagine what it would be like on the chesticles.:censored2:

On the original topic, I am very glad to see popular media bringing a classic sport back into the spotlight. I find archery fun and relaxing, not just challenging.

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LOL It WASN'T my ARM...... My left breast got all the abuse and bruises...

Again, improper coaching teaching poor form.

The shoot string should ALWAYS lay on the outside of the breast.

NEVER should your breast be behind the string in any way.

example:

ParkSungHyun1.jpg

Oh Man! I forgot about that aspect... I know that there is protective gear available to prevent that sort of thing now.

Actually the "Chest Protectors" have absolutely NOTHING to do with protecting ones breast, and were never designed for that purpose. Their sole purpose is to prevent your clothing from coming in contact with the string... to keep the fabric of the clothing from imparting any effect upon the string and secondly to keep the string from soiling your clothing. If any "coach" tells you any different the are full of excrement and need to be beaten about the head neck and chest with an old hickory pick-axe handle.

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I think the bow was too long for me. I remember that when I stood next to it before it was strung the end of it was above my eyes. So it must have been about a 5 foot long bow.... I don't know. I'm just glad I survived that class. LOL

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Luckily in the past 20 years the sport of archery has come a LONG way... but as a (NFAA and USA Archery certified) Coach, I have heard this same story _-literally-_ thousands of times, and the be frank, it angers me greatly that it is still going on today, mostly at the hands of ignorant gym class teachers and summer camp counselors. Ignorance is curable by education, and this is exactly why the US Olympic Coach has started the National Training System, so that everybody is teaching the same proper basic form, regardless of the students intention, be it sitting in a tree stand or standing on a competitive shooting line.

Edited by SandSquid

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