Junior Olympic Archery Development

Junior Olympic Archery Development

By Teresa Pione Friday, 24 April 2009

As a 12 year-old boy walking amid the booths of a New York City street festival, Queens native Alex Meyer was introduced to the sport that would become his passion: archery. Just four years after the introduction, Meyer became a junior national archery champion.

Today, Meyer runs the Austin Junior Olympic Archery Development, or JOAD, program and coaches both youth and adults in the sport of archery. He was also recently chosen to be one of eight coaches from across the country to lead the Junior Olympic Archery Dream Team.

“The whole idea is to help produce Olympic archers,” Meyer said. “Whenever [the U.S. goes] to the Olympics, we have to have some sort of pool to pull from, some sort of baseline to start with. So they [USA Archery organization] decided to start with the kids and then build them up.”

Operating out of a rented space in a southwest Austin facility, Meyer has a group of four certified coaches who teach a total of five weekend classes. Students begin aiming at the bull’s eye from 9 meters away and progress to 13- and 18-meter distances, moving from beginner classes to achievers as they advance in skill. Outdoor advanced classes shoot up to 90 meters.

Meyer said the most important tool is the student’s desire to learn.

“You have to want to be there,” Meyer said.

Because of the students’ respect for the sport, lack of safety is not an issue.

Meyer and the coaches explain that archery can be a deadly sport, but following simple whistle instructions will keep everyone safe.

“The statistics and the reality of it is that there is very little that goes wrong,” Meyer said. “We’ve never had anybody aim at anyone else with an arrow or anything like that because we make sure that any time the kids are at practice, there’s an instructor there.”

As students tackle the physical challenges of stringing their bow and releasing their arrow to hit the same center spot on the bull’s eye every time, Meyer said they are also developing skills that will help them in other areas of life.

“With kids, it’s a matter of instilling awareness and self-discipline. And with adults, it’s trying to break down their preconceptions,” Meyer said. “I do believe that it definitely helps with kids who have ADD. I think that the mindset helps them focus more and have better attention.”

Few sports offer the chance to advance so quickly, Meyer said, recalling that he was in tournaments, championships and even coaching at age 15, just three years after first picking up a bow and arrow. Now coaching for the Junior Olympic Archery Dream Team at the Olympic archery training center in Chula Vista, Calif., Meyer said he reminds his students that they, too, can meet him out there if they work hard to qualify.

More than focusing on the competitive aspect, Meyer said the goal is to foster friendship and fun.

“We try to provide an environment where kids can say, ‘hey, you can be yourself here,’” he said.

JOAD student brings home Olympic bronze

Archer Lindsey Carmichael began training with Meyer in 2000 and has been to both the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, where she finished sixth, and the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, taking home the bronze medal.

Carmichael has McCune Albright Syndrome, a bone disease contracted at birth, consisting of soft lesions (weak spots) in the bones. Meyer said her willingness and dedication have been inspiring.

“It’s just a matter if you really want to do it,” he said. “She really wanted to do it.”

Junior Olympic Archery Development, 10203 Old Manchaca Road, 436-8813, www.aajoad.com