On April 28, the Dolores Bear Archers will compete at National Archery in the Schools Program Nationals in Sandy, Utah after winning state.
The Dolores Bear Archers are made up of fourth and fifth graders at Dolores Elementary School, and the students practice their archery skills while in physical education class under Brooke Elder.
In 2020, state archery began taking place virtually because of the pandemic. Archers from schools across the state competed virtually, and their coaches uploaded their final results after students finished.
“We do the tournament according to all the rules, like if it was in person. We use the same score cards and everything. And then when they’re done shooting, the amount of shots that they’re supposed to have for the tournament, I go online and I enter all of them. And then we wait and see what happens. It was so fun this year,” Elder said.
While the Bears’ team consists of both fourth and fifth graders, only the fifth graders competed at state.
“I use fourth grade sort of as a learning year,” Elder said. “Fifth grade is sort of something to look forward to for the tournaments.”
Once the results were tallied, the Bears were named Colorado state champions as a team. Owen Elder placed first in the state for the boys and another seven of Dolores’ archers placed in the top eight. Those seven were Hunter Sturdevan, Ayden Winter, Kade Stepp and Braxton Thornbrugh for the boys, and Kora Rantz, Sofia Olivas and Olivia Elder for the girls.
Olivia and Owen Elder are not related to coach Elder.
“We got an email back about three weeks later that said, ‘Hey, you guys won.’ And we had no idea that there was a chance to move on to something else, we were just excited to do it to start with,” Elder said.
The team’s state win clinched their ticket to nationals, where 20 of the Bears will compete against other elementary school archers.
“They were so stoked. It was hilarious. So excited. And they’re just flipping out excited about going this Friday to Utah. They’re so cute. I think it’s just going to be this huge memory maker,” Elder said.
The archery nationals are divided into western states and eastern states. The Bears will be competing against other archers from states such as Hawaii, Alaska and California all the way to Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.
Archers will have a total of 30 shots, not including practice shots, and will shoot 15 arrows from 10 meters and another 15 from 15 meters.
Arrows will be shot in groups of five, allowing archers a break in between to focus and rest.
Elder said she emphasizes to her archers that it does not matter if you come from a small town or small school, saying they deserve to be there as much as any of the other archers competing, and they could place really well.
“I keep telling them you know, just because you're from a small school and this is new and huge, don't go thinking, ‘We're just glad we went’, go thinking ‘if I shoot my best, I could win this thing,’” Elder said. “They’re starting to get their mind around that a little bit. It’s pretty fun to work with them.”
Out of the 20 archers from Dolores who are competing, 12 of their scores will count toward their overall team score, and the eight who placed top 10 in state will be able to compete individually as well.
Elder is thankful for the support the team has received as they gear up to compete at nationals.
The archers have been sponsored by multiple individuals and businesses, including many of their families and other individuals, Bauer Welding, Lost Canyon Outfitters, The Depot, Dolores Elementary PTA, Calico Cactus, Cortez Kiwanis Club, Dolores Rotary Club, Notah Dineh and the Dolores RE-4A School District and board.
The archery team is funded by National Archery in the School and Parks of Wildlife as a PE program. Elder said including the program in PE makes it unique and allows many students to participate who may not be able to otherwise.
“Parents don’t have to run kids around and think of how to come up with the money for expenses. I’m really so thankful,” Elder said.
The program runs from January to February each year, and Elder said she hopes they will be able to have a program for middle and high school in the near future.
She noted that anyone can do archery, and that it can be a good alternative for kids who aren’t interested in traditional sports like track or basketball.
“Any kid, no matter their athletic ability to start with could be a rock star at this. You’ve got basketball stars that can be good at it. You’ve got the bookworms, you've got kids that, you know, don't have a lot of athletic confidence and they come out of this kind of going, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm an athlete.’ And it's just so fun. I can see just a light bulb going on for some of them like, ‘Oh my gosh I'm good at this.’ You can just see their confidence racing and, oh, the confidence building and focus. It’s just the best,” Elder said.
