Lloyd Archery Tournament 2015

By Lauren Trevor

Starting in the fall of last year, Lloyd’s 2014-15 archery team has certainly come a long way. This last season was the team’s second year since being reestablished in the Lloyd sports community as a ‘club.’ Through the seasons many scheduling issues have occurred, and due to the limited gym usage, the archery team was forced to meet before school, where the truly dedicated archers sacrificed sleep for self-improvement.

Between this year and the last, the team attended over a dozen archery tournaments, some located as far away as Louisville, Kentucky. But this season, the archery team turned the tables and hosted Lloyd’s very first archery tournament. The event occurred on Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th and was located in Scheben gymnasium. The event was coordinated by Lloyd’s Archery coach, Rhonda Smith, and was run by both Lloyd and Tichenor archery team members, as well as Lloyd staff and other volunteers. There were over 300 archers signed up for the event from several schools across the district, and over six flights were run in total. In addition to the main tournament, Lloyd had an optional 3D shoot in Lloyd’s gym, where one would shoot at life-size animal mannequins for points. Although some unexpected issues occurred, like the fire alarm unfortunately forcing everyone outside during the middle of a flight, the tournament was an overall success and helped to raise funds for the archery team for years to come. When questioned about the tournament, an anonymous volunteer had this to say:

“Considering it was [Lloyd’s] first tournament and her first hosting of one, I think Mrs. Smith did well.”

If Lloyd were to again host one of these tournaments, many of the senior members have decided to return and volunteer again. When asked by Mrs. Smith if he would return Brandon Bryant replied with a short and unconvincing:

“Of course I’ll come help…”

But as a veteran of the team, I can assure you that, along with the rest of the team, he most definitely will help again next year. Mrs. Smith can be very persuasive.