Friday night lights, packed gyms and crowded sidelines usually define high school sports. But not every teen competes in the spotlight. At LSE, archery is proving that more niche sports, with less crowds, can still hit the mark with student athletes.
Carter Shank is a LSE science teacher who coaches the Dive team and sponsors the Botanist Club. In addition to all of that, Shank is passionate about archery and competitive shooting. Even though the last time Shank competed was in 2017, he has found a new way to explore his love for the sport: By teaching and coaching younger archery athletes.
Although he has stepped back from competing, Shank continues to stay involved through coaching and volunteer work. His support helped launch LSE’s student-led archery club, and he also coaches through the 4-H Shooting Sports Program at the Turbine Outdoor Education Center.
“[W]e just shoot during practice and learn how to do the sport if you’ve never attempted it before,” Shank said. “What’s really nice about our group is that we have equipment people can use, which helps those who’ve never had the opportunity to try it.”
Archery’s presence in schools extends beyond clubs. Many Nebraska schools, including LSE, incorporate archery through the National Archery in the School Program (NASP), allowing students to participate and even qualify for state competitions.
According to Nebraska Game and Parks, more than 275 Nebraska schools offer NASP for their 4-12 grade students, with over 30,000 Nebraska students participating each year.
Still, archery comes with challenges. While programs like Genesis Archery (the company that produces the standard bow for both school shooting and NASP) helps schools by donating equipment, the sport can be expensive for individuals. Genesis estimates that is costs $175-$254 for a bow and additional accessories. Then, tournament and entry fees add up. Participation also requires a strong focus on safety, though injuries are extremely rare.
Despite these barriers, and less recognition than other, more traditional high school sports, Shank believes archery fills an important role and provides students more opportunities to get involved.
“It’s one of those things where not everybody wants to be a football player or a cheerleader,” Shank said. “It’s able to be available to those students as well, if they want to do it, but it’s also available to students who otherwise would be like, ‘I’m just not gonna do anything.’ And so it’s just we want to cast a wide net to involve as many people as possible.”
For LSE senior Addison Wolfe, that “wide net” made all the difference.
“Honestly, I didn’t think about ever joining until I did unified PE and we were doing a unit over it,” Wolfe said. “One of the assistant teachers – who is now my coach, r—asked me if I’d ever considered joining Archery. I was like, ‘no, not really’. He was like, ‘well, I think you’d be really great at it’.”
That moment sparked a five-year commitment to the sport. Wolfe has since earned a spot on Nebraska’s All-State Archery Team, competed at the state level, and qualified for nationals as one of the top 10 female archers in Nebraska.
Part of her love for the sport was the simplicity of the sport.
“[Before archery] I liked being on teams and stuff, but I feel like that got a little overwhelming,” Wolf said. “[With archery] it’s just you and the target. That’s it.”
Archery is unique in that athletes compete both individually and as part of a team. Scores contribute to personal rankings while also supporting team performance. This creates balance between the individual athlete and team collaboration.
Because of its smaller size, the archery community often forms close bonds as they chase the same goals. Practicing and competing together over time helps athletes grow not just in skill, but in connection with each other
“Not many people know about it,” Wolfe said. “But it is so rewarding. I never thought I’d ever go to a national tournament for a sport, let alone archery. You never think about it, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
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*LSE and other schools in LPS do not endorse the archery team, but allow students to shoot under their school names.
