Day in the life of
Archery Instructor – April Hovjacky
I’m an archery instructor and outdoor specialist for my local county parks and recreation. I’m the second lead archery instructor but have helped with kayaking, nature walks, summer camps, etc. For me, it is a part-time job, but I work with several people who are full-time outdoor specialists.
My Typical Day
My day depends on the time of year and how many classes I’m teaching. I arrive at the archery range and set up for the students in the class. I teach technique based on their level. I have kids from 8 years old to over 60+ adults.
On a typical day, I always have to set up the range for the specific class I’m teaching. This means putting the stands at the distance the class needs, putting out the target bales the class needs, and putting the correct target faces on those bales for the specific class.
The other equipment depends on which class it is. If these are students who do not own their own equipment (bow and quiver full of arrows) then I get out the ground quivers with the correct number of arrows in them and get the bows needed for the class.
I take attendance and teach to the specific class. Afterward, I put everything away.
If I’m teaching an intro to archery class (2 hours), this is for complete newbies, then I go over the basics of the range, the rules, parts of the bow, how to use the bow, and body form. Then everyone gets to shoot and become familiar with the new sport. We always end intro classes by shooting at balloons.
My high school class is a little different, it runs at 5-week intervals. The first day I go over all the basics like an Intro to Archery class. All the following days we play different archery games. I keep it fun and correct form and help the kids along the way. Games can be having different colored paper plates and playing Simon Says – they shoot at the color I say. We also shoot at solo cups, they make a great sound when hit. Another game is getting one arrow in each colored ring. The games differ depending on how advanced the kids are.
My Star Shooters class is for 8-13 year olds and over 8 weeks I teach them all the steps of archery in a very structured way. They learn form, aiming, and how to score. We have 2 scored shoots where they earn patches as they rank up and get to shoot longer distances. This class gets them ready to decide if they are going to buy their own bow and take archery seriously as a sport and then join our class (JOAD) for kids with their own equipment.
The star shooters class had a big competition for the 3 classes combined at the end of each 8 weeks. This was usually about 45 kids. With several helpers, I put together a tournament for the kids with trophies at the end. This was a great way to introduce the kids to competitions. They were run pretty close to how a national competition would run, but on a much smaller scale with shorter distances.
JOAD is Junior Olympic Archery Development, it is a USA Archery program. In this class, the kids can shoot for fun or get more serious and start going to tournaments. In this program, the kids practice each week and earn their way to longer distances through scored shooting and earning pins along the way. Many of the kids travel to compete in big tournaments. Some of the bigger tournaments will have USA Olympians in them. The kids will usually not compete against an Olympian as archery is broken down into categories of gender, age, and bow type.
I also teach a few intro classes for 50+ and have a few fun game days a year.
For each class, I get to know each student. I have to figure out how they learn and work with them. I have to watch their form and help them make adjustments. Some kids will listen better than others. Some kids want more of a social fun practice time and others want to improve quickly and go to tournaments.
Other responsibilities are taking care of and fixing the equipment. This mostly entails restringing the bows and putting new vanes on the end of arrows. Letting my boss know what needs to be ordered. Making copies of handouts and score sheets. Keeping track of the scores from class competitions. Advising parents on what to buy and what not to buy for their young archers.
Pros
My number one pro is watching the student learn a new skill, become confident in their new skill and watch them shine. A lot of my students are not very athletic, so, watching them become empowered by quickly excelling at a new skill is absolutely incredible.
Cons
The main con for me is the majority of classes happen after school and on weekends. Several evenings a week I’m not getting home till 8pm. The other con is the heat during the summer on an open archery range in the full sun.
