Wayne State College’s new Archery Club was accepted by Student Senate on Sept. 9 to officially be a school-affiliated club, and it is gearing up for their first meeting.
The president of the Archery Club, Brady Schaaf, and the secretary, Georgia Ramsey, advocated for the approval of the club. The student senate voted, and the motion passed. The archery club is planning to have its first meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and a second Friday, Sept. 20 for those who cannot attend the first one.
The Archery Club first started as an idea between Schaaf and vice president Carson Ott, while playing arrow tag at a retreat for resident assistants in August. When they returned to campus, they worked on the next steps to make this club official. Schaff said he had 91 people sign the interest form at the club fair. Their next step was to then present their organization in front of Student Senate.
Club members have yet to agree on involvement in competitions.
“One-third of people want to compete, one-third of people don’t, and one-third of people don’t know,” Schaaf said. As a club sport, the main goal is to go to at least four competitions this year. The club works through USA Archery, and plans to attend events and abide by the organization’s rules.
Ott said he always had an interest in archery ever since his dad bought him a bow when he was 12. When Schaff brought up the idea, he was all in. When he mentioned the club to his friends, Ott found out they had taught archery all summer. Those friends agreed to help with the club and train the members.
Equipment is next on the club’s to-do list. The plan is to bid on bows on auction, as that will be the cheapest option. Another thing they have been talking about is sponsorships. They are going to reach out to local businesses to see if they would donate or sponsor the club sport. The club wants to use that funding to buy more equipment, like armguards, targets and more bows if necessary.
Their campus advisor is the Dean of Student, Cody Westerhold.
“It’s also huge that we snagged Cody because he is here for the students, and I think he will be huge on maintaining the archery club as it goes on,” Ott said.
