Preparation

This week I have been preparing for a very special event.  This event will take place from November 17-21st.  I was selected to go and shoot at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) to try out to make the JDT team.  This JDT team is the Junior Dream Team, where the national and Olympic coaches watch and train the kids.  Head coach Kisik Lee has selected 50 of the top archers to participate and compete for the open spots.  To be eligible you have to shoot a minimum qualifying score (1250 out of 1440) at the distances required (50, 60, 70 meters).  With that you have to have attended at least 4 national tournaments and write an essay.  Once you have met these requirements and you are selected, you will go a week to Chula Vista the Olympic Training Center and train.  You will have to run, essay writing, SPT's (standard-physical-training), do push-ups ( 60+ in 2 minutes), sit-ups (80+ in 2 minutes), and most of all shoot.  I have been training hard and want to accomplish my goal of becoming a JDT member.  Come back next week to see how it went and my experience at the camp.

Fita Rounds

Sorry for the delay, now I will finally tell you about the regular fita round.  For this round you shoot 72 arrows for the day, and the next day is a different type of round like ORs, or Elimination.  These rounds are normally used for big national events so you can do all the different events in one week.  This part is usually for the placing in the second part so it doesn't count toward your rank as much.   You shoot two rounds the day of the fita, both consisting of 36 arrows, and there is a lunch break in between.  This event usually takes between 6-8 hours depending on the archers speed.  This is including the hour lunch break.  During this lunch break archers like to talk to each other and find each others score.  Knowing each others score shows the archers where they are placed and how much better they have to do so they can rank up.  This tournament is not really for the placing but more so you can strategically place yourself for the next days event. 

Halloween Special

Sorry again for not being able to talk about the fita Rounds, but this week has a very special event.  Halloween,  so my club "Vanguard Archers" decided to host a special event.  All the participants had to wear there costume to shoot.  It was a three in one event, best target decorator, best score, and best costume.  All my friends we there and the costumes and food was amazing.  I dressed as Dracula and ended up getting 2nd for best costume.  Me and my partner also got fourth for target decorating, but we didn't get a prize for that. Once the Halloween part was all settled it was time for scoring.  We had 10 ends of three arrows.  Since I wore a costume I got to shoot a mulligan arrow.  A mulligan arrow is an arrow you can make up if you shoot a low score.  I ended in first place, but in the end it was more for fun than for score.