The Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District held an inaugural archery tournament with three after school archery clubs on Saturday, April 27, at the Verde Tech High School gymnasium.
Guy Day, a retired prison guard, helped start the program after a neighbor saw him practicing archery in his backyard and suggested he teach his skills to students. Day is a level-one USA Archery instructor.
Day subsequently set up the first club at Cottonwood Community School with Teddy Armstrong, COCSD’s 21st-century coordinator, in 2022. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant is a five-year federal grant that funds after-school programming. The club expanded to Dr. Daniel Bright School and Oak Creek Elementary School this year.
“My goal was to get archery into the schools and eventually have a tournament,” Day said. “I wanted them to work as a team, not as individuals. I was very proud of all the kids for their sportsmanship.”
The first tournament included 36 archers from grades three through eight. Students were able to sign up to shoot competitively or non-competitively. Day said that they decided to give every student a medal because they were brave enough to enter the shoot.
Former COCSD superintendent Steve King and current superintendent Jessica Vocca were present, with Vocca helping hand out medals to the students. Day said that King was instrumental in helping get the club started, as was the nonprofit organization LISA, which is a key funder of the club. Volunteers from Rim Country Bowhunters, a Verde Valley archery club, served as the line judges and scorekeepers.
“It was a total success,” Day said. “We had a packed house.”
He added that they plan to hold a tournament after each semester.
“It’s teaching them a lot more than just shooting a bow,” Day said. “I not only teach shooting the bow but respecting other people and respecting themselves. The priority of the club is safety first and fun and second. I always say you can’t have fun if you’re not being safe.”
He said that the archery club was the one school club from which students can be removed from if they do anything that is considered unsafe or unsportsmanlike by adults.
The club currently has five coaches, including Day, who teach at the three schools, all of whom are members of the Rim Country Bowhunters except for one who is a senior in high school.
Day said that archery is not a cheap sport, so having funding from nonprofits like LISA was very helpful. Rim Country Bowhunters has also donated archery equipment and funds.
Day said that he often hears his students say that they love archery and that they have so much fun in the club and tries to incorporate games in his training exercises.
“There are some really good archers here,” Day said. “Arizona has produced some of the best in the world and we’ve got them here in the Verde Valley.”
