Oregon State Indoor Championship Recap

In the middle of the state of Oregon there is a little town called Bend.  Known for its high-desert-snow-covered-wintery landscapes and as the winter retreat of many skiers, Bend saw an invasion of a different type of sports fanatic this weekend -- archers.  

Compound Shooters of every style, Traditional archers with their simple and pure wooden bows, and the high tech Olympic Recurve archers all descended upon the River View Convention Center for a tournament that would determine who, in the state of Oregon, was the best at blasting holes in targets from 20 yards away.

And we lucked out … the weather was sunny and beautiful!  The perfect weather for an archery tournament!

Too bad this tournament is indoors ... oh well.  

The competition range pulled more than a few grumbles from the archers.  Set in the dark and cramped confines of an event hall on the lowest level (with really bad lighting), the archers showed up for their shoot times, straddle the line with 70 other archers at a time, and flung their arrows downrange towards the row of blue and white targets.

The Archers For Change Team shot on both Saturday and Sunday.  Once again we took the field representing our supported charities.  Every shot counts, and every shot is an opportunity to help others.  The tournament consists of all the archers shooting two scores (a total of 120 arrows) for a possible tournament total of 600 points.  When the dust had settled ... well AFC did better than OK.

Ashlea and Brandon Tenner competing
on day 2 of the Oregon State Indoor
Championship

Brandon Tenner, once again shooting for Active Heroes, shot a 290 on his first day and 293 on his second.  Not only did this score clench him 1st place and the title of Oregon State Indoor Male Recurve Champion ... it is also a new state record!  Brandon was very pleased to have shot his best this tournament and was, as always, an inspiration to all the other archers in attendance.

Ashlea Tenner’s debut for AFC was a wonderful success.  She was able to shoot 195 on her first day and 198 on her second day.  For her first time shooting a state tournament, this was a wonderful accomplishment and gives her a solid benchmark to surpass next year.  Ashlea, shooting for TransActive, was able to successfully raise money for this well deserving charity.  She’s excited to be part of something that turns her and her husband’s passion into helping others and we are glad to have her on board!

Adam Parrott struggled a bit with the unfamiliar and dark atmosphere of the event.  However he still shot very solid hitting a 276 and 277 to place him securely in 2nd place behind Brandon.  Adam was a very positive influence on the shooting line for the others around him.  He enjoyed representing St. Mary’s Home For Boy’s again while also helping others enjoy the sport of archery.

Chelsea Bliss winning her first Championship Title for AFC

Chelsea Bliss finally overcame the slump she’s been shooting and claimed the title of Oregon State
Indoor Female Recurve Champion!  Not only did she shoot strong both days ... scoring a 244 and 264 ... but she also blew her own personal record out of the water the second day!  Chelsea will be shooting this summer for Kiwanis Camp and has her eyes on even more championship titles in the very near future.

Over all it was a wonderful weekend for Archers For Change.  Not only did we secure two championship titles, but we did so while raising money for our charities and enjoying this amazing sport!

Many thanks to Oregon Bow Hunters and all of their hard work to put this event together.  We all enjoyed our time in Bend and the camaraderie of a wonderful archery community.

If you made a pledge, keep your eyes on your email!  We will be sending out the pledge requests later this week.  If you haven’t made a pledge for one of our archers yet and would like to for this tournament, there’s still time!  Just head over to the AFC website and enter a pledge!  You’ll be helping out a great charity and supporting the sport you love, all at the same time!

As an added bonus and incentive for people who make a pledge, our partners over at ActiveTense are giving a promotional discount of 10%!  Pledge now to receive your code!  If you do any sort of sports activity, then you'll definitely want to check them out.

Thank you everyone for your continued support,

Adam and the AFC Team

Archers For Change at the Oregon State Indoor Archery Competition

Oregon State Indoor Archery Competition is HERE!

This weekend, February 20-22nd, the AFC Team will be competing in their local Oregon State Indoor Archery Tournament to benefit our supported non-profit organizations.  This time we will be traveling to the faraway and mystical land of ... Bend, OR.  

Ok - so not that far and not that mystical.  But nonetheless, this is another great opportunity to support your chosen archer and a great cause!

The Oregon State Indoor Archery tournament is a little bit different from our last engagement in Vegas.  This tournament will be following the NFAA (National Field Archery Association) format and is very different from how the vegas tournament was scored.  In fact ... we won’t even be shooting on the same target!

Here’s a quick rundown of how the scoring will work this weekend.

5 arrows consist of one end.  Get all 5 in the 'white"
to score a "25" the most possible in a single end.
The "X" ring is used for tie breakers.

The NFAA Indoor course is shot on the “Blue and White” target face.  It is the same size as the multi-colored target that we shot in Vegas, however there are only 5 scoring rings instead of 10.  This means that each ring is larger, but there are half as many rings.

Instead of 3 arrows per end and a total of 10 ends, the NFAA round is 5 arrows per end and a total of 12 ends.  The maximum score per end is 25 (If all 5 of your arrows land inside of the “5” ring).  This gives a maximum of 300 points possible in the entire round. (25x12 = 300).  60 arrows total will be shot during a single scoring round.  Each archer will shoot 2 rounds over the course of the tournament for a overall score out of 600.

So what do all those numbers mean?  Basically - this tournament relies more on endurance than precision.  The bullseye might be twice as big ... but there are also twice as many arrows to shoot.  This means more chances for mistakes and a greater chance that fatigue will set in.  The archer with the most stamina and who can maintain 60 strong shots in a row will be the victor! 

For a more detailed account on how the NFAA Indoor round is scored, click here.

Brandon Tenner will once again be shooting for Active Heroes / Carry The Fallen.  His stellar performance in Vegas at the beginning of the month brought in a lot of support for this great cause.  Brandon will be defending his Oregon State Indoor Championship title this year against an ever growing field of talented archers. If you didn’t have the chance to pledge for him a few weeks ago, please take a moment to check out the Active Heroes website and make a pledge today.

Brandon's Average NFAA Scores : (Brandon rarely misses the white)

Score     :   293
X Count :   31 

Adam Parrott continues his efforts to help the youth out at St. Mary’s Home For Boys this weekend while also trying to scare Brandon a little bit up there at the top.  The last few local tournaments they have shot together, it’s been Brandon 1st place and Adam 2nd.  He’d love to see that change this weekend!  You can support his efforts, and help the boys of St. Mary’s by pledging today and then following along this weekend!

Adam's Average NFAA Scores :  (Keeps it within the 4 ring with a good deal in the 5)

Score     :   281
X Count :   17 

This weekend will also debut our newest AFC archer, Ashlea Tenner.  Ashlea will be shooting to benefit TransActive Gender Center.  TransActive is a “Portland based program that supports transgender and gender diverse children and their families by providing holistic counseling services, assistance in accessing healthcare, community workshops and training as well as research and advocacy to help influence positive change for transgender youth.”  This will be Ashlea’s first pledge event and, while she is newer to archery than her husband, Brandon, she plans on using her bow to help yet another great cause.  Head on over to the AFC website and pledge page to support her and her cause today!

Ashlea's Average NFAA Scores : (Honing in on finding the middle)

Score     :   197
X Count :   2 

Another exciting weekend of archery is ahead of us, and we hope that you’ll follow along.  We will have daily blog updates as we did in Vegas and don’t forget to like us on Facebook where you’ll get lots of up-to-date information on how your archer is doing!

Thanks again!

~Adam and the AFC Team.

Las Vegas 2015 Archery Competition : Archers For Change Day 3

Day 3

This is it … the final day of the Vegas Shoot 2015.  The past two days have seen the gathered archers compete in bloody combat in an attempt to get ranked as high as they can.  The victors earn everlasting glory amongst the archery world.  Tears have been shed, dreams have been crushed, and those left standing are preparing themselves for one final day of cutthroat competition ...

Well … cutthroat might be a little extreme.  In fact … ignore that whole last paragraph.  In reality, the convention halls were filled with smiling archers encouraging each other to do their best.  It may be the final day of competition - but for most archers this is the most relaxed they've been all weekend.  The shock and awe of the tournament has worn off and they have finally settled into enjoying themselves and this wonderful event.  And besides … archery really isn't about doing better than others.   Its about being the best that you can be and working on improving oneself.

Brandon Tenner loading an arrow in the final day of
Las Vegas Shoot 2015

But for some archers … the stakes were a little higher.  

Brandon Tenner found himself ranked 9th in the 1st flight after the second day of competition.  This means that he has a real chance of breaking "into the money" and really shining at this major archery competition.  One more day of strong shooting and all his hard work will have paid off.  Not to mention all the money he's raising for Active Heroes …

So for Brandon, the pressure is still on and he wants to do his best.  Not just for himself, but for those he is helping as well.

Adam Parrott was ranked 9th in the 2nd flight entering the final day of competition.  His goals this tournament were to place in at least the 3rd flight and to hit at least one score of 270+.  His score of 279 yesterday solidified both goals, so today he'll just do the best he can and see what happens…

At noon the archers once again took the line.  Nerves were present, but not as much as the first day.  The anxiety from the beginning of the tournament has been replaced with raw focus.  Just 30 arrows left.  30 chances to move up or down the ranks.  30 arrows to send flying down range, hopefully into the gold.

Brandon shot a solid score of 287/300 … missing besting his first day score (and tournament PR) by only 1 point!  He was shooting on a single spot instead of the favored "3-spot" target and was obliterating the center rings so much that he had to switch out for a new target mid-tournament.  His focus hardly wavered as he consistently slammed his arrows into the X ring time and time again.  And it paid off … when the dust had settled, Brandon had moved up 4 rankings to claim 5th place!  This is his highest ranking ever achieved at Vegas!

Adam shot a solid round as well, scoring in his average with a 269/300.   His first 5 ends were a little shaky, dropping one 23 round and having trouble finding the center of the target.  But he made up for it in his final 5 ends, settling into his rhythm and raising his score with each arrow.  He finished 7th in the 2nd flight … much higher than he was anticipating when he first set foot on the field last Friday!

Adam Parrott sends and arrow down range in one of the final ends of
Las Vegas Shoot 2015

The true winners of this competition though are the charities that Adam and Brandon were shooting for.  Active Heroes and St. Mary's Home For Boys will hopefully benefit from the donations they receive based on our two archer's performance.  Thank you to everyone who participated and helped these two wonderful organizations out by pledging for our archers!

If you didn't get a chance to pledge for this tournament, there will be many more opportunities to help many more organizations in the future!  Please like us on Facebook  and follow along on our blog.  We will have many things archery related added soon!

Thanks again everyone for making this such a wonderful first event!

Thank you EVERYONE for helping us make a difference!

~Adam and the AFC Team

Las Vegas 2015 Indoor Archery Competition : Archers For Change Day 2

Day 2 (Saturday)

The second day of competition at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas started out much the same as the first ... sunny and beautiful!  The AFC crew hails from the Pacific Northwest, so we have been enjoying soaking up some much needed vitamin D.

However, unlike the first day,  our shooting time was in the late afternoon at 4:00pm.  This meant there was plenty of time for some good food, plenty of rest, and some much needed time spent on the practice range and/or mental visualization time.  They say that archery is 80% mental and only 20% physical ... and at first it’s hard to understand just exactly what that means.  But after yesterday played havoc with the emotions, anxiety, apprehensions and focus of some of our archers - it’s easy to see how important a strong mental attitude can be.

Brandon Tenner sending another arrow into the gold at the
2015 Las Vegas Indoor Archery Competition

 Brandon Tenner was very confident in his shooting from the first day.  Physically he felt strong and had good faith that his form was as sharp as ever.  He prepared for the second day of shooting by focusing on relaxing ... not overdoing.  Staying calm and remaining confident is a technique that works well for him.  He’s known to coach other archers on shooting “one arrow at a time” and not worrying about what the score is or fixating on bad shots.  Staying positive and focused at the task at hand is his recipe for tight groups and high scores.

Adam and Chelsea, however, decided that they needed to hit the practice range a bit and fling some physical arrows downrange after their lackluster performance on Friday.  Positive thinking is great ... but only if you’ve got the confidence to back it up.  Unlike Brandon, the other archers of the AFC crew haven’t been shooting since they were barely out of diapers.  So Adam and Chelsea took some time at the practice range ... while Brandon sat in the bleachers and tossed out kind words of advice and encouragement.  

But one can only practice for so long before it’s time for the main event.  So, at 4:00pm, the AFC archers once again found themselves in one of the convention-halls-turned-archery-ranges.  It’s quiet the sight watching 240 archers all bumble about waiting for a tournament to start.  Everyone is trying to find a safe spot for their bow, chit chat with their friends turned competitors, and - above all else - keep calm and sooth their anxiety demons.

Brandon once again shot a very solid round.  His ability to consistently send his arrows into the gold rings was an inspiration and an envy to the other archers around him.  He had a bit more trouble finding the exact center of the gold on every shot than he had the day before ... but still ended with a 281/300.  This is once again above his average for the season - and hitting above your average at the worlds largest indoor tournament is a feat in and of itself.  Brandon has been placed in the 1st Flight which will compete at Noon tomorrow.  His current standing is 9th and if he shoots another strong round tomorrow, he’ll be at the top of the charts for the recurve flights!

Brandon is shooting for Active Heros/Carry The Fallen.  There is still time to make a pledge and support this wonderful cause.

Adam's 30 out of 30 end in his second round of the
2015 Las Vegas Archery Competition

Adam decidedly vanquished his anxiety demons from the day before shooting a tournament personal record of 279/300.  He attributes his jump in consistency to the increased amount of sleep, practice, and calming influence of his friends.  He also got the chance to shoot in an ActiveTense performance shirt ... more on that later.  Adam’s personal goal was to, “shoot a score of 270 at Vegas” and he nailed that today.  His crowning moment was hitting a perfect 30 in the 9th end.  Adam jumped up the rankings to 47th and will be shooting in the 2nd flight.  He is ranked 9th in his flight and only 2 points separates him from 1st.

Adam is shooting for St. Mary’s Home For Boys.  Head on over to the AFC pledge page to support him and the boy’s who rely on the community for a brighter future.

Chelsea, although not shooting for an organization this tournament, found the resolve to raise her scores as well.  She shot an entire 36 points above her score from yesterday, finishing with a 243! In fact, most all of the shooters from Team Portland improved on their second day, so good job everyone!  This tournament has been an amazing experience for all the archers involved.  Chelsea is looking forward and feeling confident for her final day of shooting tomorrow.

The third day of scoring takes all of the archers and breaks them down into Flights based on their combined scores from the first two days.  Each archer then competes within their own flight, with the top 8 places in each flight receiving a part of the payout.

After our competition was over, we had the chance as a group to go over to the main arena and watch some of the Archery World Cup which featured some of the most talented archers from around the world.  We can’t wait for archery to become more mainstream in the USA as this sport has so much to offer to people of all ages.  

You can check up on your favorite archer and track their scores in realtime by going to http://ianseo.net/details.php?told=989.

Thank you again for everyone who has made a pledge!  If you haven’t had the chance to yet, there is still time!  Click the button below and help support a good cause!

~Adam and the AFC Team

Las Vegas 2015 Indoor Archery Competition : Archers For Change Day 1

Las Vegas 2015 Indoor Archery Competition

Day 1 (Friday)

The Las Vegas Indoor Archery Competition is the largest indoor archery competition in the world.  People from many different countries converge each year upon South Point Casino in Las Vegas for one of the most spectacular events in the sport of archery.  Over 2,700 archers were pre-registered and a fair amount more could be seen at the registration booth leading up to the first arrows of the competition.

However - this means the competition is a very very long ordeal and somebody is going to be stuck with the earliest shooting time in the morning.

And, of course, that was us...

So, after arriving in Las Vegas yesterday (Thursday), we all set our alarms for before the desert sunrise in order to make sure we were up, fed, and ready for our first recurve round at 7:00am.

The Archers For Change crew met up with the other shooters from the Portland area and we talked, joked, and did everything we could to not become intimidated by the long row of targets sitting 18 meters away.  Slowly the other early morning archers started to trickle in (most with bleary eyes and a cup of Seattle’s Best Coffee in their hands) and, before you knew it, the line ref called for the start of the 2015 Las Vegas shoot with four simple words ...

“Archers to the line!”

With calm demeanors which belied the rapid beating of many hearts, they waited for the whistle that singled the beginning of the tournament.  Promises were made and prayers to many different god’s (or anything that would listen) were said as the row of competitors stared down the range to their targets.

Adam Parrott shooting for AFC at the Vegas Shoot 2015

Then, the whistle blew and hundreds of bows were raised as archers started to loose their first arrows.  The “Vegas Round” consists of 10 ends of 3 arrows each for a maximum of 30 arrows.  End after end, we would shoot our arrows and then walk down to the targets to score.  Some ends were better than others.  Some people did far better than expected ... others not so much.  Such is the life of an archer at a competition.

Brandon Tenner, shooting for Active Heros/Carry The Fallen, is a Vegas veteran.  He calmly proceeded through the first round like a well oiled machine.  He sent arrow after arrow into the gold and, after the dust had settled, he had not only scored a new tournament personal best of 288/300 ... he also found himself tied in 2nd place!  With two more rounds to be shot over the weekend, Brandon is in high hopes of placing near the top of the charts.

Brandon Tenner nailing Xs at the Vegas Shoot 2015

Adam Parrott, shooting for St. Mary’s Home For Boy’s, made a strong showing as well.  Although this was his first large tournament and his first time shooting at Vegas, he didn’t let the competition affect him.  Well ... maybe a little.  Ok, so in reality it was incredibly intimidating and his heart was pumping out of his chest ... but now the first round is over and he can look forward to improving on his scores over the next two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.  Adam shot a 260/300 (not to far below his average) and is expecting to do nothing but improve over the next few days ... as long as the stress of competition doesn’t get to him.

Good thing he has strong supporters in the other AFC shooters, Brandon Tenner and Chelsea Bliss, as well as the entire crew from his hometown of Portland.

And that really is one of the most amazing things about archery.  In the end, your “competitors” are also your friends, supporters, mentors, and community.  Every archer can only do the best that they can do.  And every archer wants to see their friends shoot the best that they can.

The AFC shooters next shoot at 4:00pm on Saturday.  You can watch their live scoring results at http://ianseo.net/details.php?told=989

If you haven’t pledged yet for one of our archers and their organization, please check out our main website at www.archersforchange.com or click on the pledge button below!

Thank you everyone for your support.  Check in tomorrow for another update!

~ Adam Parrott and the AFC Team