Meet Lesley Winker of First Flight Archery

Lesley shoots all forms of archery from field to 3D to World Archery Target Indoor and Outdoor! She even represented the USA at the ROBION 2017 WORLD ARCHERY 3D CHAMPIONSHIPS.

How did you get started in archery?

My husband, John, got me started in archery. He got into archery for bow hunting originally in Tennessee around 2007. Then we moved to PA, and he found that there was more to archery than just bow hunting. He quickly became obsessed and was gone a lot either practicing, hunting, shooting league, or tournaments. I felt left out. So, he bought me a used bow online, and I began to take lessons from Doug Williams at Kinsey's in 2009. Soon, Doug suggested that if I was to continue to improve, I needed to upgrade my equipment. So, John bought me a Hoyt Kobalt, and the rest is history!

What has been your best moment as a shop owner for First Flight Archery?

Honestly, there isn't just one moment. I have great moments in the shop on a monthly basis. These moments happen when I'm coaching. One moment that stands out recently was during a lesson with a deaf couple. I knew that the lesson was going to test my coaching abilities as I had not coached anyone with hearing difficulties. I relied heavily on direct eye contact, slowing my speech down, and more demonstration than I normally employ. The gentleman was not only deaf but unsteady on his feet. So, I had to adapt his teachings to a chair also. We had SO much fun in this lesson. The couple smiled, clapped, and took pictures. They even bought First Flight Archery T-shirts on their way out of the shop. When individuals, like this couple, come in for lesson, have a blast learning, and leave happy, these are the moments that make being a shop owner a great experience.

Lesley and some of her JOAD crew from First Flight Archery

I recently saw you picked up bare bow, and your husband, John, did too. What have you experienced with this switch? Do you have new goals for yourself?

Let me begin by saying that bare bow is NOT easy. But, there is a simplicity to bare bow that I don't feel with my compound shooting. I feel like it's quicker and easier to go pick up my bare bow and start shooting than with my compound. Then, at the same time, it's more complex. The body alignment feels tighter to me, the shooting is more of a feel, and finding consistent string blur is a fight. When I shot compound, I would NEVER look up scores. I guess I just knew that I had to shoot 295 or better to be competitive. Yet, now with bare bow. I'm looking up scores to see what I need to shoot to be in the top 5 or top 10 depending on the tournament. Consequently, there are goals arising already. My practice has increased as well as my journaling. It's a brand new world that holds new challenges. At this moment, bare bow is making my archery less of struggle and fun again.

Lesley rocks the Yost Products finger tab—use your AAoA discount code to get one for yourself.

$50 Payout for Members with a First Place Win at ASA Winter CanAm Classic March 7-10th.

The Archers Association of America will offer $50 contingency to for a Association Member's first place finish in the eligible divisions at the Winter CanAm Classic in Syracuse NY on March 7-10th 2019.

These eligible divisions include: Men’s Known Pro, Women’s Known Pro, Senior Known Pro, Men’s Known 50 Open, Men’s Known 40 Open, Men’s Hunter, Women’s Known 45 Open, Women’s Hunter, Men’s Senior Known, Senior Women’s Known, Senior Hunter, Barebow.

Membership in the AAoA must be valid prior to 3:00pm EST on Saturday, 9 March 2019 to be eligible to receive contingency for a first place flight finish.

You can join or renew here at https://archersassociation.org/new-members-index

We wish all of our Members good luck! Shoot straight, and have a great time!

—Avram & Brandi Granett

Rules:

1. To be eligible for contingency, competitors must be a paid member in good standing with the Archers Association of America by 3:00PM on Saturday, 9 March 2019.

2. Eligible divisions include: Men’s Known Pro, Women’s Known Pro, Senior Known Pro, Men’s Known 50 Open, Men’s Known 40 Open, Men’s Hunter, Women’s Known 45 Open, Women’s Hunter, Men’s Senior Known, Senior Women’s Known, Senior Hunter, Barebow .

3. There must be at least ten (10) competitors registered in any contingency-eligible flight to qualify for payment in that flight.

4. Only a first place win by an Association member in good standing (as of by 3:00pm EST on Saturday, 9 March 2019) in an eligible division will be qualified for contingency.

5. Email us at info@archersassociationofamerica.org to notify us of a first place win.

Archery Contingency Money Explained

Have you ever seen a pro archer struggle to hold up all of the big checks at the end of a major tournament?  Only one of those checks will be from the tournament itself.  The others may stem from contingency money.

Contingency money is money pledged by sponsors and manufacturers for athletes that met certain standards or contractual obligations while winning at tournaments eligible for contingency.  For example, the Easton Arrow Contingency Program requires archers to shoot their products, be members in good standing of the national organization, register at the booth before the tournament starts,  and in a shooting class with at least ten registrants.  Black Eagle arrows requires archers who wish to be eligible for contingency to shoot their product, wear a jersey or hat that features their logo the entire time, provide a podium photo, and at ASA and IBO tournaments to sign in at the booth before shooting. 

If you are attending a major event, it can be a good idea to check out the programs offered by different sponsors or manufacturers; you never know when it might be your turn to stand on the podium and smile with those big checks!

And remember, this year, the Archers Association of America is adding to these payouts with contingency on the line for members competing at the Vegas Shoot in the flight divisions.   Any AAoA member (in good standing as of 2/9 at 4:30PST) who ranks first in their flight will be eligible for $50 in contingency funds.  More about this contingency program can be founds on our website!

What are Flights at the Vegas Archery Shoot?

Anyone can win at the Vegas Shoot.  Yup, anyone.  Well maybe not in the Championship Open—that requires a score of 900 for all three days, or winning the Lucky Dog shoot off, and then making it through the big show on Sunday.  But for those of us registered in the Flights divisions—we all have a chance.

Archers sign up for a flight based on shooting style with divisions for: Bowhunter, Recurve Barebow, Recurve, Compound, Compound Limited, Crossbow Unlimited, Crossbow.  Archers in the flight divisions shoot as a group on Friday and Saturday.  Then on Saturday night, the flights, or groupings of approximately 30 archers, are announced.  Archers are slotted into flight by score, grouping like archers together.

Then on Sunday, the flighted archers compete in these smaller 30-shooter groups for ranking, and hopefully, the flight payout.  Payouts vary between the flights based on how many people are in your division overall and how high of a flight you ranked into.  This great system gives any registered archer a chance to be competitive among their peers while competing at the biggest indoor archery tournament on the calendar.

This year, the Archers Association of America is adding to these payouts with contingency on the line for members competing in flight divisions in The Vegas Shoot.   Any AAoA member (in good standing as of 2/9 at 4:30PST) who ranks first in their flight will be eligible for $50 in contingency funds.  More about this contingency program can be founds on our website!

Archers Association of America Announces Members' Contingency for Vegas

The Archers Association of America will offer $50 contingency to for a Association Member's first place finish in the eligible flights of The Vegas Shoot 2019.  

These flights include: Bowhunter flights, Recurve Barebow Flights, Recurve Flights, Compound Flights, Crossbow Unlimited Flights, Crossbow Flights, Compound Limited Flights for the adult divisions. Membership in the AAoA must be valid prior to 4:30pm PST on Saturday, 9 February 2019 to be eligible to receive contingency for a first place flight finish.

You can join or renew here at https://archersassociation.org/new-members-index

We wish all of our Members good luck! Shoot straight, and have a great time!

—Avram & Brandi Granett

Rules:

1. To be eligible for contingency, competitors must be a paid member in good standing with the Archers Association of America by 4:30pm PST on Saturday, 9 February 2019.

2. Eligible flights: Bowhunter flights, Recurve Barebow Flights, Recurve Flights, Compound Flights, Crossbow Unlimited Flights, Crossbow Flights, Compound Limited Flights.

3. There must be at least ten (10) competitors registered in any contingency-eligible flight to qualify for payment in that flight.

4. Only a first place win by an Association member in good standing (as of by 4:30pm PST on Saturday, 9 February 2019) in an eligible flight will be qualified for contingency.

5. Email us at info@archersassociationofamerica.org to notify us of a first place win.

Archery & Cold Season

You start to feel it on Friday night after work, a tickle in your throat.  Then Saturday you start to sneeze. By Sunday, you feel like death warmed over.  But Sunday is your club shoot; the one day a week where you can shoot your bow and let everything else slide.  What can you do? For most of us, on a regular Sunday, we stay home, sleep in, and just hope to feel good enough to get back to work, but what happens if you get sick in February, you know, right before Vegas or in March before NFAA Indoor Nationals or some other tournament that you have been working toward and already laid the money out for?  How can you rescue the situation and get your arrows down range?

Sleep

First off, sleep makes everything better. It is when your body stops working and starts repairing.  Even though the bright lights of the Strip might be calling you, find your hotel room and get to sleep.  The more rest you have the stronger you will be for shooting.

Old Wives Tales--Try Em

People may scoff at the idea of chicken soup helping them get better, but the warm liquid opens congested passages, helps you to breath, and gives you easy nutrition at a time when you might not feel like eating.  Hot tea, especially ginger or peppermint, can also help to open up your airways.

Check Your Meds

For many of us our go to over the counter solutions for colds and flus might be out of reach at a tournament because of anti-doping policies.  Before you take anything, check out the product at the Global DRO website.

Sudafed for example is prohibited in competition:

Keep a Good Attitude

You may hear some legends floating around on the line about people putting up their best scores when they are under the weather.  There may be some truth to these legends. If you are over-thinking your shooting, you might just let those tens happen! So don’t let a cold or flu derail your mental game, and perhaps contemplate that you might just have given yourself an advantage.

And Finally Be A Good Sport

If you are feeling sick, don’t share it with everyone else.  You know the drill: wash your hands, cough into your elbow, fist bump or wave instead of shaking hands.  While we all want to win, doing so because you laid your competition low with a winter bug isn’t the way to go.

Vegas Shoot Discounts

The Archers Association of America has partnered with Tickets at Work to get archers deals on all sorts of entertainment and travel. One of the biggest deals we have found is for Vegas shows, experiences, and concerts—perfect for your downtime during the upcoming Vegas Shoot.

Here’s an example of a deal we found using the Tickets at Work system on Cirque Du Soleil Zumanity tickets.

If purchased directly from the casino, they would cost: $182.32 for two tickets.

Using Tickets at Work, these same two tickets would come to: $146.90.

To access this deal, log into the Members Area and go to the Vegas section. There you will find the details on how to sign up for Tickets At Work and how to access these great entertainment deals.

Lancaster Classic Time

It's the most wonderful time of the year....indoor archery season!!

The Lancaster Classic will be in full swing this weekend at the Spooky Nooks Sports Complex in Manheim, PA.  Over 1,000 archers of all ages will compete using the Lancaster format with 60 arrows where the X counts as an eleven for 660 total point round. 

After qualification, archers that make the cut will continue forward with head to head matches culminating in the shoot up format on Sunday.  Unique to Lancaster, the shoot-up matches the two lowest ranked archers in the bracket, with the winner moving up to face the next higher one.  So 7 and 8 shoot off, and the winner goes against 6.  They keep moving up the bracket until there is one final winner. 

A hallmark of Sunday's shoot-up is Lancaster Archery Supply's President, Rob Kaufhold interviewing archers in the middle of the round.  This unique format makes this tournament one of the best of the year.

For those you heading out to Pennsylvania, we wish you great luck; for those you at home, you can watch the live feed here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/lancarchery/live

Our members will find some local restaurant deals in the Members area of the newly revamped website.  We have deals at Fuddruckers, Lancaster Brewing Company, and Today's Pizza.  Just log in to the Members area to see those coupons.

May your arrows always find the middle,

Brandi, Avram, and Megan, Archers Association of America