How To Register Arpa State Archery Dothan 2018

Ozark's Ian Harlow targets ARPA, Buckmasters archery titles

Alabama State Games — Ian Harlow practices his archery inside of a building in Ozark.

Ian Harlow is standing almost statue-like still.

His bare bow is drawn, no sights, no releases allowed.

He lets loose an arrow, which whistles 10 meters and slams into the target with a "thud" at the makeshift archery range in a section of a shopping center across from the Ozark Municipal Complex.

This is practice – and it has paid off for the 14-year-old Harlow, who last summer won his age group championship at the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA) State Archery Tournament in Dothan. He shot a personal best score of 283 out of 300 possible points.

"I didn't even know I did that good," Harlow said. "They called you up front, and the announcer was like, 'This dude's got 283.'"

His 14-under age-group title continued the progress he's made since taking up the sport at 10. He was the ARPA 12-under bare bow runner-up in 2013 and finished third in the 12-under bare bow in 2012.

Last year, as an eighth-grader, he shot with the inaugural Carroll High School archery team – although he was too young from being included in the official NASP (National Archery School Program) events, which were for ninth-graders and up.

"It's fun. It's fun to shoot," he said with a shrug when asked to explain his attraction to the sport.

He laughs at the recollection of when he was a beginner. He was 10 and a student at Dale County Christian when he first tried the sport.

"When I first started I couldn't even hit the target," he said, adding it took about four or five weeks to start getting comfortable. "Probably about a month into it I was getting all blue, red and yellows. Now I usually get all reds and yellows."

Scoring the game is reasonably simple. Each archer shoots a total of 30 arrows, five arrows at a time – which is called an "end."

There are three "ends" at a distance of 10 meters and three more "ends" from 15 meters. That's a total of 30 arrows.

Archers can earn up to 10 points for each arrow – 1 point for hitting the outside "white" of the target up to 10 points for a bull's-eye – for the maximum total of 300 points.

The distances for older age groups are increased.

There are a number of different types of bows.

"The children shoot bare bows," Leah Harlow, Ian's mother, said. "What makes it different and what makes it such a challenging sport is there are not any sighting aids on the bows at all. It's strictly hand-eye coordination and what they can see.

"Some 4-H programs use bare bows, but they also have a division for hunters because hunters have the scopes and the sights," Leah,who is an assistant coach for Carroll High's archery team, added.

Just as the bows are different, the number of area archery leagues and groups has grown in recent years.

"At Dale County Christian, Ian did archery there through NASP," Leah Harlow said. "That kind of spurred the city on. Bill Brooks got archery going in Ozark. There's a recreation league, there's a school league. Ian got involved through Bill with the Ozark recreation league. This August we're going with a 4-H group to the Buckmasters competition in Montgomery. They have 3-D targets."

Ian Harlow was hoping to participate in the Alabama State Games this weekend. Unfortunately, Brooks said not enough participants signed up for a bare bow competition.

"There is going to be archery at Fort Rucker for the Alabama State Games, but I believe there will be a different format there," Brooks said Saturday night. "It won't follow the NASP format with bare bows. There will be sights and releases allowed, and they'll have a mix of 2-D and 3-D targets."

Harlow instead will continue to get ready for bigger events later this summer like the Buckmasters and the ARPA State Tournament in Dothan. Both events are scheduled for August.

Brooks said Harlow and a number of area archers have represented the city of Ozark well in competitions.

"He's done well. Ozark has done well," Brooks said. "I've had students from here, Ariton, Dale County Christian, Newton."

Brooks began his archery program four years ago. Leah Harlow said about 40 kids shoot with him.

As those numbers have increased, so has the number of places to shoot.

"There's a range at the Ag Complex where the 4-H program is practicing for the Buckmasters," Leah said. "Fort Rucker has a brand new archery range that just opened this year. They're getting a club together. The Tri-State Gun Club has a club for members. Even in Ozark we have an outdoor range by the lake that was put in by Alabama Fish & Wildlife. So there's more and more opportunities that are coming.

"It really is a skill. This is my third year coaching. Anybody can learn it. It just takes a lot of practice."

Ian, an incoming freshman, will be a member of the Carroll High team this coming school year.

"Ian is a Type 1 diabetic," his mother said. "This sport allows him to compete without using a lot of energy to drop his blood sugar. With soccer and some other sports, you have to be more careful. We still monitor his levels, of course. But it's an option to have another sport and not worry about blood sugar dropping."

Already, Ian is looking forward to the ARPA State Games in Dothan.

"That one's my favorite," he said.

As for the practice – and patience – it takes, Ian offers one piece of advice.

"Try to figure out where to aim at one spot, then keep doing the same thing over and over and over again."

Follow Ken Rogers on Twitter @debamabeat.

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