After a year of  training with the bow, My husband, Armen & I decided to join several leagues & tournaments around the New York City area, The first official one day tournament I joined was in the Proline Archery Range located at Ozone Park. It was a 450 Fita. A 450 Fita tournament means there are 45 arrows to shoot. Three arrows are  shot one after another within a period of  2 minutes is called an end,. A perfect shot on the inner circle of gold is a ten, thus 45 arrows that find the center of gold would be a 450 score. I emerged with a 404 score which resulted in an easy First Place win in my class (class B). Because of this win, I was elevated to Class A which is also Armen's category. Armen meanwhile took the First Place in his class (class A). 

He scored 415. 5 points shy of  making the highest class which is Class AA. Our first trophies were followed by others. An easy First Place win in Bowhunting Women's Division, First Place in 450 Fita Women's Division held at Queen's archery range was followed by a major Second Place win in May's Landing held in Atlantic City. Armen didn't want to be out done and brought  home some trophies too. 

Winning home town leagues & small tournaments gave me enough confidence to send my entry form to the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas. My  husband had no intention of joining this highly competitive event.. We both knew that winning was just not going  to happen for us. This tournament is the biggest contest in all categories  of archery. The best of the best converge every year in Las Vegas  to display their skill and prove to the world who is number one. Armen tried to persuade me to change my mind about entering  this prestigious convention of archers. In the end he gave up and joined the grand plan to shoot in Vegas! "Okay this time you win, we will make this trip just a fun tournament"! 

My excitement doubled when I found out that Rich Walton, Robert Hoague, Bob Ragsdale & some of the staffers of Bowhunting.Net would also be making the journey. I looked forward to  meeting them. Robert promptly sent me t-shirts & caps with the Bowhunting.Net logo to wear during the tournaments. My whole world was filled with the exhilarating of preparation. I feverishly practicing hours everyday. I only started to calm down a little when my office mates noticed the dark circles under my eyes getting darker and darker each day. I decided to take it easy and stagger my practice to ensure I arrived in Las Vegas in good health. 

My spirit sky rocketed as the day of our departure neared.  I now realized why my husband talked & practiced archery with such fervent devotion. My husband was caught up with my frenzy to shoot with the best archers from all parts of the world. 

The two of us  were like ants preparing for the rainy day, but this time we were preparing for  three sunny days of shooting! Yahoo!  Vegas here we come! 

That exciting Thursday in March finally arrived and my husband and I boarded the airplane for Las Vegas! I was drowning with excitement & hope.  We arrived before lunch, checked into the hotel, and immediately went to the Sands Convention Center for target practice. The organizers gave the shooters one day to practice before the actual showdown of skill. We found out there was a total of 1,400 shooters. We joined the flight division. Friday and Saturday were devoted to establishing our average score  so the archers in the flight division could be categorized  into 15 flights. As soon as I stepped into the practice lane my confidence started to falter.  I had never seen such a long line of expert archers. The intensity  of  tension all around me started to affect me.  Uncertainty washed over me and I really started to get nervous. 

By the next day, Friday, the first 300 game (30 arrows to shoot) my nervousness was outwardly and physically evident. I had clammy  cold hands, my heart rate went off the scale, my eyes must have looked like headlights, my breathing rate had doubled and I'm sure if anyone looked closely, my hair was standing on end. Nervously I took my place in the line of archers. On my left was a lady named Bobbie Meltzer from Elkhart, IN (who took first place in the Female Senior division). She had 30 years experience in archery & hunting and  has been attending this event every year. On my right side was a young lady who had been shooting since she was 10 and present at this function for a number of years too. The rest of the shooters near me had logged in a few years to reach where they are now and then,  here I was, one who had the audacity to even be here within their ranks! Both ladies that flanked me would shake their heads from right to left with disapproval when their arrows would land in the gold (center of target around  3 1/8") diameter) but not quite hitting the inner circle (around 1 1/2") that would score a 10! Meanwhile, I was struggling to land my arrow anywhere in gold just to score a 9! My mind kept shouting "Just hit the gold"! My head was clouded with such high anxiety that I became my own worst enemy!  My concentration to "Aim Aim Aim Aim" just didn't happen! Blame me for the low score, not the bow or anyone else! 

The following day, I still didn't have a grip of myself. Meanwhile. Armen showed a decent performance. By Sunday, the organizers had spread out the flight shooters according to their scores. 

The 15 flights consisted of 25 shooters. Armen found himself in Flight 11, meaning there were 4 flights  that scored lower then him and as for me I found myself in Flight 13 meaning there where 2 Flights that scored lower than me. 

The next day, Sunday  I finally  relaxed. The people around me were relaxed too. We were among our own group who more or less have the same capacity & skill. The fellow next to me, from Transylvania started joking about our ranks "Common guys & gals, smile & enjoy, stop wearing a gloomy face, we are here not to win anymore but to shoot & have some fun"! Placing his cupped hand over his brow he searched the faces of the serious archers who where in the front Flights & blurted " Look yonder the high ranks, what serious & unhappy archers they are"! We all started laughing . So our group was making the best of our shooting and regardless of where we ended up, one thing was certain. Las Vegas is exciting, scary, fun and above all, worth every moment. After all, archery isn't whether you win or lose, but how you play the game and we all played well. 

But just you wait till next year. Check My Las Vegas Shoot pic page