Scenic Bramble Hill Farm
The Amherst Archery Academy held its first outdoor Olympic style archery competition this morning using tournament like rules and regulations, held at the wide open, bucolic Bramble Hill Farm on the outskirts of South Amherst.
The "Spring Gathering" event was limited to students of the Amherst Academy but was so successful it may morph into a more open competition next year.
2 archers per target, 12 arrows to score
The monsoons of yesterday gave way to bright skies and dead still air, picture perfect for an outdoor event like this. Friends and family gather to the rear of the contestants with each archer in the line of just over a dozen firing six arrows per "end", times six ends (36 arrows) comprising a "round".
Today's event totaled three rounds.
Bow(dacious) line up
The Amherst Archery Academy was founded in 2011 by Kyle Bissell, a level two certified USA archery instructor. Around that same time the Hollywood blockbuster "Hunger Games" sparked a wave of interest in archery.
Archers on the line
oh, say, you can't miss...
ReplyDeletewith a fluff piece like this.
sw-i-i-i-i-i-sh!
but where, oh where, will Larry aim his ornery arrow next?
Great pictures Larry, and a great way to spend the summer. Ali
ReplyDeleteOnly long bows allowed, eh? No compounds, or is that just a different category of competition?
ReplyDeletedifferent category.
ReplyDeleteAlthough all I see when my daughter takes lessons are recurves.
Larry, I am not adding this because it will p***-off Team Maria but because it is genuinely relevant to things like the Archery Academy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.educationnews.org/parenting/number-of-homeschoolers-growing-nationwide/
As more and more parents homeschool but continue to pay property taxes to fund it, they are going to either (a) demand exemptions like the Baptists got in 1820 and/or (b) vouchers with which to pay for stuff like this archery program for their kids.
And then we will have Team Maria as the Antidisestablismentarians of the 21st Century -- in 1855, Massachusetts property taxpayers were no longer funding the Congo Church -- they had before, and that is why in places like Hadley, the town hall is right next to the church.
Education was once a Church task -- we could see public school teachers become like ministers/priests/rabbis today -- funded by those who want to go that route, and not by others.
Archery is hardly an academic pursuit.
ReplyDeleteThere will never be that many home schoolers as to make the public schools not needed.
And we property tax payers have no recourse. We pay the tax or lose the property.
Of course Archery is an academic pursuit! All good things that engage our physical and mental beings are the curriculum that make us well-rounded, productive, contributing members of society. (Excepting church pursuits, of course, as we decided a long time ago to keep those things separate, for the sake of our commitment to religious freedom.)
ReplyDeleteI would like to see kids be allowed to take lessons such as these for school credit...as long as every kid has equal access to the same activities somehow.
And don't say never anon 4:10... things change. Just look at the changes we've undergone as a nation in the last, say, three generations.
...that is why in places like Hadley, the town hall is right next to the church.
The layout of the small complex of Buildings in Hadley (including church, town hall) is a replica of the layout of town center in Hadley, England, I believe. Or something like that. Isn't that the place we revolted against for the sake of our religious freedom (among other reasons)?
Ed said Education was once a Church task -- we could see public school teachers become like ministers/priests/rabbis today -- funded by those who want to go that route, and not by others
ReplyDeleteBut then there would be multitudes of kids not receiving an education, and our societal problems would be exacerbated. When we all chip in to pay for all the kids' educations, we all receive the benefit of an educated electorate, an educated workforce, etc.
A kid with lousy parents shouldn't have to suffer with no opportunities her whole life, either. She should have a shot at becoming a better person then her parents, for her sake and all of ours.
When we all chip in to pay for all the kids' educations, we all receive the benefit of an educated electorate, an educated workforce
ReplyDeleteYou misunderstand the position of the Baptists - who had split off from the Puritans because the Puritans weren't strict enough for them.
If you are already paying for something that is better than wehat the taxpayer dollars support, why should you also be asked to support it as well?
This is what we eventually will see here -- the homeschoolers are going to argue that they are paying to support a school system so why should they have to support two? And as to the "pay the tax or loose the property" argument, the Baptists sorta won that in 1820, didn't they?