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Students target success through archery program
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Neighbors | Submitted.Canfield Village Middle School students in grades seven and eight who were new to the after-school On Target Outfitters program and fifth and sixth-graders who have experienced one of the programs met every Thursday in October.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Canfield Village Middle School students in grades five and six met every Monday in October to participate in the after-school On Target Outfitters program.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Students at Canfield Village Middle School lined up and prepared to shoot their bows at targets during the after-school On Target Outfitters program.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Jared Albright, left, Ben Targove, Giovanni Dunlap and Lake Bennett checked out the bows they shot at the velociraptor and giant cobra targets during the On Target Outfitters after-school program at Canfield Village Middle School.
BY ABBY SLANKER
In the spring of 2008, Steve Scott was looking for a way to give back to his community and found one — On Target Outfitters.
A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, On Target Outfitters is a youth mentoring ministry that uses hunting and shooting sports as a way to reach out to young people.
“It was a way to offer to young people what was given to me when I was a teenager. I experienced first-hand the value of mentorship and learned from those who invested in me, not only the skills needed to succeed in hunting and shooting sports, but about life, family and the things that matter most. On Target is about creating a quality atmosphere for just this kind of successful mentoring relationship,” said Scott, who also serves as director of the organization.
Currently, On Target Outfitters does not have facility of its own. It is a mobile organization that can set up in many different venues.
According to Scott, one of the activities the organization conducts is archery programs. It recently completed its second year at Canfield Village Middle School with the help of sponsorship from Bob & Chuck Eddy’s.
Forty children, 21 boys and 19 girls, participated in the after-school program. Students in grades five and six met every Monday in October and students in grades seven and eight who were new to the sport and fifth- and sixth-graders who have experienced one of the programs before, met every Thursday in October.
On Target Outfitters set up a 10-yard range in the cafeteria/gym. A 10-foot by 30-foot net acted as a backstop to knock down any missed arrows. Students shot youth compound bows and shot at a variety of targets, including standard 10 ring round targets, balloons, candy wrappers (they hit the wrapper and win the candy), money, velociraptor and giant cobra and SACO action targets.
According to Scott, students take away much more from the program than the learned archery skills.
“We teach basic archery (proper form and technique), a little bit of the science and history behind the sport and we also take the principles that we are teaching with archery and show the students how they apply to life.
The students in this program also take away greater self-confidence having tried something new and succeeded, an increased ability to concentrate and a fun time.
Archery is also considered a very safe sport.
“Archery is an extremely safe sport when done properly. According to insurance studies, when comparing archery to various ball sports offered in schools, archery ranks almost as low as table tennis. I am a certified archery instructor through the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP),” Scott said.
On Target Outfitters has also conducted programs in other area schools, including Western Reserve, South Range, Jackson-Milton and West Branch.
Western Reserve Middle School has offered to be a host site for a tournament, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 15, for all the students who have participated in an after-school archery program in the last year.
For information, call Scott at 330-423-5101, e-mail steve@ontargetoutfitters.org or visit www.ontargetoutfitters.org.