Ready, aim, fire: Archery camp teaches discipline, concentration

• Teaching

Instructor Deb Luzinski shows Natalie Mercill how to hold the bow and arrow at an archery camp sponsored by the Woodbury Parks and Recreation department last week. Staff photo by Riham Feshir
• Students aim

All lined up at the range, archery students shoot their targets at the camp last week.
• Bella Carpentier

Bella Carpentier concentrates before shooting her arrow.
• Scoring

Natalie Mercill and Dylan McMahon score how they did after a round of shooting.

Talk about it

With movies like the “Hunger Games” and “Brave,” archery has become a popular sport that’s attracting youngster all over the country.

A new Woodbury Parks and Recreation program invited a number of youth to participate in the sport last week.

The archery camp taught students how to use bows and arrows while concentrating on their targets at the Carver Lake Park Archery Range.

Instructor Deb Luzinski said the class is an extension of the National Archery in the Schools Program that teaches the sport in schools around the state, including Woodbury and Lake middle schools.

There are 160,000 youth in grade 4-12 who participate in the National Archery in the Schools Program, she said.

“It’s the fastest growing sport,” she said. “Any kid can do it.”

Luzinski said students who suffer from ADHD and Asperger’s are also successful in archery.

“It takes focus,” she said. “You don’t have to be the fastest, you don’t have to be the strongest, you have to be able to apply what you’re taught.”

Tags: area news, news, woodbury