teeroy
Life Member
(i love these stories)
Archer Pulls Students Strings
By Erin Hemme Froslie
The Forum - 04/06/2005
Joy Fahrenkrog paused to aim at a strawberry in the middle of a target while her young supporters crossed their fingers in hopeful silence.
Thud. Groans. A miss.
"Come on," she said. "I need some encouragement."
As the fifth-graders at Fargo's Centennial Elementary chanted "you can do it," the archer's next arrow pierced the strawberry.
The lesson was clear.
"It's always good to be encouraging with your friends, your fellow shooters, your classmates," said Fahrenkrog, a ranked archer who hopes to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. "It always makes them feel better, and when they feel better, they do better."
The athlete spoke to students Tuesday while promoting archery as a sport for youth.
She was invited by the North Dakota 4-H Shooting Sports program, which wants to encourage more schools to offer archery in physical education classes and after-school clubs.
Fahrenkrog, who lives in Arizona, first picked up a bow when she was 8. Other than for a school physics lesson, she never touched one again until three years ago.
That's when the former rower decided she wanted to participate in the Olympics. Running through the list of eligible events she thought she could learn at the age of 22, Fahrenkrog chose archery.
Last year, she was a major contender for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Archery
Team.
Archery is a great sport because anybody can do it, she told the Fargo
students.
"You can be tall or short, young or old, cool or uncool, a basketball player or whatever," she said before demonstrating her skills in the elementary school's gymnasium.
The most important skill with archery is sportsmanship, she emphasized.
That's what the students demonstrated when several of their own classmates were given the chance to shoot a bow.
Shouts of "Let's go, Cody" and " Let's go, David" filled the air as students applauded their classmates' efforts.
Danijela Husic said it was fun to give the sport a try. It was harder to pull the arrow back than she expected.
But it felt good when she let the arrow fly and it hit the ring next to the bull's eye.
"It was hard work, but worth it," she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Erin Hemme Froslie at (701) 241-5534
www.joyfahrenkrog.com
Archer Pulls Students Strings
By Erin Hemme Froslie
The Forum - 04/06/2005
Joy Fahrenkrog paused to aim at a strawberry in the middle of a target while her young supporters crossed their fingers in hopeful silence.
Thud. Groans. A miss.
"Come on," she said. "I need some encouragement."
As the fifth-graders at Fargo's Centennial Elementary chanted "you can do it," the archer's next arrow pierced the strawberry.
The lesson was clear.
"It's always good to be encouraging with your friends, your fellow shooters, your classmates," said Fahrenkrog, a ranked archer who hopes to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. "It always makes them feel better, and when they feel better, they do better."
The athlete spoke to students Tuesday while promoting archery as a sport for youth.
She was invited by the North Dakota 4-H Shooting Sports program, which wants to encourage more schools to offer archery in physical education classes and after-school clubs.
Fahrenkrog, who lives in Arizona, first picked up a bow when she was 8. Other than for a school physics lesson, she never touched one again until three years ago.
That's when the former rower decided she wanted to participate in the Olympics. Running through the list of eligible events she thought she could learn at the age of 22, Fahrenkrog chose archery.
Last year, she was a major contender for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Archery
Team.
Archery is a great sport because anybody can do it, she told the Fargo
students.
"You can be tall or short, young or old, cool or uncool, a basketball player or whatever," she said before demonstrating her skills in the elementary school's gymnasium.
The most important skill with archery is sportsmanship, she emphasized.
That's what the students demonstrated when several of their own classmates were given the chance to shoot a bow.
Shouts of "Let's go, Cody" and " Let's go, David" filled the air as students applauded their classmates' efforts.
Danijela Husic said it was fun to give the sport a try. It was harder to pull the arrow back than she expected.
But it felt good when she let the arrow fly and it hit the ring next to the bull's eye.
"It was hard work, but worth it," she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Erin Hemme Froslie at (701) 241-5534
www.joyfahrenkrog.com
