I stand behind the firing line as the IWLA (Izaak Walton League of
America) kids sling arrows at paper plates. I don’t know the names of most of
these kids though I’ve been watching over them and occasionally coaching some
them for more than two years now. (It took me 5 years of standing on the line
to learn the names of the kids from that club who first won the Maryland Youth
Hunter Education Challenge and later the national title!) The kids tend to come
and go every year and I just don’t remember them if they don’t stick around beyond
two years. Even then, I need to see them at each practice if I’m going to
remember their names. I rarely remember their parents’ names no matter how many
years they hang around. (If someone didn’t say “Coach Jack” every time we meet
to practice, I’d forget why I’m there.)
So I look around the archery area
and see a girl standing alone, as stoic as I’ve ever seen a kid look. There are
other adults watching the line and the kids know enough now that I can look
away for a moment. I ask the Stoic if she wants to shoot. She gives me a blank
look and says softly, “No. Not right now.”
I glance at the firing line. The shooters have finished so I give the
okay to pull their arrows. As they hang their bows and walk down range to the
targets, I turn back to the Stoic.
“You aren’t interested in all this are you?”
Her face becomes animated, a rare occurrence for this child. She turns
and actually meets my eye. I have to lean closer to hear her.
“No, I’m not. My brother is the one who wants to do this.”
I nod. Been down this road before and saw things get ugly quickly.
Teenaged girls being forced to do “hunting” things because their brothers want
to is not good. I don’t want kids on my line who aren’t “into it”. Kids
who might be angry about being forced to participate set off alarms! I hate
having to tell a kid to step off the line and hang up their bow because they
are angry, usually with a parent who is forcing them to shoot. I tend to stand
close and speak softly to the kid until I either calm them or see that anger is
ruling them. If they can’t get control of themselves, I tell them to take a
break. Sadly, the parents occasionally object and I have to order the kid off
my line and explain to the parent I will not have an angry shooter on the line.
(When I think of the things I’ve done in anger I feel sick to my stomach. I
don’t want anyone on my watch feeling guilty years down the road.)
This girl doesn’t appear angry. She’s simply enduring. Having done that
most of my life I can sympathize with her. I tell her she doesn’t have to shoot
if she doesn’t want to. I get a very surprised glance from her. Evidently she’s
not use to being given an option. She nods a “thank you” and sits down to watch
the other kids shoot for more than an hour.
Later I notice one of the other female type shooters has joined the Stoic.
They are talking teenage girl stuff: school, boys, clothes, boys, music and
boys. I suspect the girl shooter is having more influence than I’ll ever manage
so I leave them be and watch the line.
Every now and again I get a kid who has no interest in hunting, but
wants to learn to shoot a bow, just because. Having never killed anything with
a bow (I don’t count a chipmunk I shot once, and I don’t tell that story often)
I feel more of a connection with the nonhunters and have had to think about
ways to keep them interested in the sport of arrow slinging when the other kids
start showing up with pictures of the deer they’ve killed with a bow. I think
about why I set arrow to string and let fly. And I think about how I might
explain that to a kid, especially a girl kid.
Like most things I attempt, it took decades for me to realize why I
sling arrows. Obviously because it seldom requires me to throw, hit, kick or
catch a ball. (Thank the gods!) I don’t have to run, jump or climb. Nor do I
have to join a team, or a club to shoot a bow. In fact, I can buy an attachment
for my bow and shoot indoors, with my eyes closed, and never worry about
damaging anything or anyone! I don’t have to hunt, or even paper shoot to enjoy
using a bow. Such a cool tool to train myself with!
There are times I deeply regret not sticking
with my education so I’d have learned how to teach. How do I talk to a kid
about philosophy when they probably haven’t heard the word let alone know its
meaning? (Though I’ve had a few of the IWLA kids give me a Socratic butt whoopin’
on occasion and they knew what they were doing! Damn home schoolers!)
How do I explain archery isn’t just about hitting a mark, be it a kill point on
a deer or a spot on a sheet of paper?
I’ve stood alone on the line and slammed three
arrows so tightly together in a bull’s eye I was amazed I hadn’t ruined at
least one of the arrows. Hanging my bow, I asked the kids to pull my arrows.
They couldn’t. I asked them how I’d managed to shoot them so accurately. “Magic.”
Someone said. So one time I got to explain how magic works. I think some of the
parents caught it, but I doubt any of the kids did.
I mauled over how to explain archery to the Stoic
during the two weeks we didn’t have a practice. I’d pretty much worked out what
I’d say to her when we met on the range again, but was almost disappointed to
find her geared up to shoot and waiting for me to take control of the range. I
let her get off a few arrows and walked down range with her as she retrieved
them.
“What changed your mind about doing this?” I’m
such a curious creature, some days.
“Oh, Gabrielle told me why she enjoys shooting
and how it’s helped her in other things she does. She told me I don’t have to
hunt to be an archer.” She paused and smiled a little. “It is fun now
that I know I don’t have to kill anything.”
While I might not be formally trained as an
educator, I have learned enough over the years to know when to nod in agreement
and keep my mouth shut.
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