West Fork hosts first archery tourney at Rockwell

ROCKWELL — West Fork took aim at a big archery tournament last weekend, the first-ever for the Warhawks, held at the elementary school in Rockwell.

Archery coach Aaron Petersen, along with his two daughters and several other West Fork competitors, brought it to fruition.

“It’s a lot of work,” coach Petersen said. “I started the team two years ago, our sponsors really helped us get going. We also got a couple of grants to get going. Everything here is all donated from businesses and grants around the area.”

According to coach Petersen, there are 56 West Fork shooters from elementary to high school, including 25 elementary, 17 middle schoolers and 14 high school shooters.

“We shoot tournaments all over North Iowa, Garner, Parkersburg, one in Dike-New Hartford and we’ve got a bunch of kids qualified for state already (in Des Moines), there’s over 2,000 shooters at state,” coach Petersen said. “Over 6,000 state-wide. It’s big, it’s a lot bigger than this. This is just a small shoot.”

His daughter, Remingtyn, an elementary school shooter, got started because of her dad.

“My dad is the coach and I really wanted to try it because it is a new sport,” Remingtyn said. “When I started, it was a little difficult, but once I got used to it, it got much easier.

“It’s so easy to catch on. A lot of people can do it, it doesn’t matter if you are disabled or not.”

Eastyn Petersen, in middle school, admits she once shot the same color bow as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games.

“I actually do enjoy watching the Hunger Games,” Eastyn said. “I started shooting a little green bow when I was little. We had a target in our backyard and I would shoot with my dad…that got me started.

“I hadn’t shot in a long time and when I started (again) last year, it was a little difficult to get started, but once I caught on, it’s fun.”

Amid the fun, coach Petersen said it was a lot of work.

“But this is how our club can make money for our club to keep going and keep going for the costs down for parents,” coach Petersen said. “My biggest thing is, I don’t want a kid to not be able to do this because they can’t afford it.

“If I would have known how much work it was, I never would have done it in a million years, but if I would have known how rewarding it was I wish I would have done it years ago.”

Coach Petersen there have been a lot of help from parents and other coaches to get this tournament started.

Several members of the team went to state before, including Remingtyn and Eastyn.

“It was really big, a lot of people,” Remingtyn said. “I got a little nervous with my first shooting, but I got used to all the people and I had fun.”

Eastyn added “When we went to state, I saw a guy who had one arm, an amputee and he was shooting really well, too.”

The tournament consisted of one practice round of 10 meters and then three scoring rounds from that distance. Following that, a practice round from 15 meters and three more scoring rounds from 15 out.

“It takes them 45 minutes to shoot and then they are done for the day,” coach Petersen said. “We’ll have over 300 shooters through here today, in and out.”

The heft of the bows vary, for example, Eastyn says hers is only a few pounds.

“But you can adjust the strings so far to how fast your arrow flies,” Eastyn said. “Mine is almost fully turned up, so I don’t have to aim as high or as low from 10 meters.”

There was a flight on Friday and flights every hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

“It’s fun,” Eastyn said. “It was a lot of work to make sure everything goes right, but it’s fun.”