Archery skills more than bow and arrow

You might think that the Tisdale Wildlife Federation Club (TWF) is all about the great outdoors, and in many respects it is, but some activities take place indoors.

On the lower level of the RECplex, the TWF has a club room which is used for different purposes, one of which is archery. There are a couple of prerequisites for someone to be able to use the space for target practice, says club spokesman Bill Carbno, and that is they must be members of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation and they must have a Shooting Club membership.

“It’s mostly the younger people who are learning archery,” Carbno says. “There are older club members that will come in and shoot prior to hunting seasons, to sharpen up their skills.”

In fact, young people have an opportunity to learn the basics of archery at school, through the National Archery in the Schools Program.

“Some of them started in that [program] and enjoyed it, so they just keep going,” he said. “We’re hoping that they can continue that. They are supposed to have a couple of sets of teachers that are doing it but I think just the younger kids are going this year so far.”

For the uninitiated, archery may seem more like a hobby than a sport. However, the benefits of learning that sport are manifold. Archers require not only some physical strength, but also mental fitness, and archers develop their focus, flexibility, and attention skills.

And they say archery can make your child a better student, as it teaches youngsters the benefits of patience, and other valuable life skills like sharing, cooperation, communication, perseverance, and concentration.

The club holds practice sessions on Wednesday nights through the winter months. Not to worry if you don’t have the equipment, an out-of-town member can shoot with the club bows.

There is also an outdoor range for summer time practice located behind Bruce Shapansky’s Auctioneers, Carbno says, and as long as someone has their shooting club membership, they can go to the outdoor range during the summer.

Taking advantage of the TWF’s archery shooting range can be a good way to find out if you like archery.