You have often heard sports teams say “it is a rebuilding year.” Wel,l it’s a rebuilding year for Adairville Archery after losing our top 12 shooters—many of whom began the program five years ago—and also losing most of our coaching staff who began the program. It looked bleak for the program, which had won local, state, and national awards over those five years.
But the Adairville Spirit shined through, as what was thought to be a tough year has turned into a very young but very competitive team. With new coaches stepping up and a few veterans returning along with a few veteran archers returning and a bunch of new kids who have become quick learners, Adairville Archery is off to a surprising start.
We began the season in early January at the Russellville tournament. We did not bring home any individual or team trophies but shot a surprising 2,727 team score. This was probably about 300 points more than was predicted and turned what was a rebuilding year into “we can win at a high level year.. Our next stop was the Auburn tournament, which brought our first trophies, as Gunnar Gloyd took third place in boys Middle School. To keep things in the family, younger brother Joe Gloyd took fourth place in the 10 meter shoot. The team once again shot a 2,727, which showed that all important factor in archery consistency.
The next Saturday we traveled to always tough Lewisburg and were hit by the flu bug. With some of our top shooters out sick our score dropped to the low twenty-six hundreds. Our younger students gained valuable experience, shooting against the tough competition.
Tournaments include the first three Saturdays in February—at Muhlenberg County, Olmstead and Chandlers. The big weekend comes Feb. 22-23 as we host the Sixth Annual Cardinal Classic. Our tournament has grown each year and serves as our major fund raiser for the year. Friday night will start (5:30 p.m.) with the 10 meter only shoot for the 2nd and 3rd grade students. This year we have over 90 students registered, up from the high teens last year. This demonstrates the tremendous growth that programs are seeing as more and more schools are adding programs, and those programs begin with the younger students.
We will have two flights of the regular tournament also on Friday night and will begin again on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with a flight each hour until 5 p.m. Awards for the ten meter shoot will be after it is complete. All other awards will be at approximately 6:30 pm Saturday.
Come out and join the fun during the tournament, we will have lots of good food and fun throughout the weekend. Your support of our program is critical to its success.
Coaches this year are Jenn Anderson, Rick Anderson, Kenneth Spivey, Richey Gloyd, Laura Gloyd, Wayne Stratton and a host of volunteers. I can’t name all of them so I will wait to recognize the volunteers. Team members this year include:
Ethan Robey, Dawson Clark, Caleb Smith, Glenda Lynch, Justin Wix, Austin Wix, Gunnar Gloyd, Joe Gloyd, Chris Harr, Brennan Davenport, Matt Edgar. Edward Lynch, Austin Rayno, Tristan Dozier, Sarah Anderson, Seth Anderson, Shelby Byrum, Carter Spivey, Emma Allen, Addie Corder, Abigayle Saunders, Ali Stratton, Carlie Hunt, Olivia Harrison, Clark Timmons, Samuel Noe, Sarah Mclellan, Ali Garrett and Corbin Deberry.
Steve Stratton serves as Adairville archery sponsor in addition to being the school’s assistant principal.