April

" Michael Waddell
" David Blanton
" Travis "T-Bone" Turner
" Mark & Terry Drury
" John Dudley
" Levi & Samantha Morgan
" Ralph & Vicki Cianciarulo
" JoElla Bates
" Vic Wunderle
" Pete Shepley
" Rick & Julie Kreuter

This year there were even a couple of non-archery special guests including former professional basketball player Scottie Pippen and Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who stopped in to see what new items were being promoted.
I noticed the POWER OF PINK being spread throughout the archery community. It seems as though many companies are doing their part to include women in archery and in some cases showing their support for breast cancer research foundations. I saw Lumenok unveiled a new pink nock. A new company to the archery scene, .30-06 Outdoors introduced "Bowstring Lipstick", the pink version of their "String Snot". America's Best Bowstrings offers a pink Custom kit which includes a pink peep and pink D-loop material. PSE even has two bows available in pink, the Chaos and Mini-Burner, typically geared toward women shooters and children.
Another successful ATA show has come to a close. With all of the new innovations, products, clothing, etc. it will be quite the adventure to see what shows up out on the course.

www.pse-archery.com
www.PimpMyBow.com (Bow/Accessory customizing)
www.burtcoyote.com (Lumenok Arrow Nocks)
www.bmoproducts.com (The Rattlebox)
www.shineattire.com (Muddy Girl clothing line)
lukeglp1967@aol.com (The Pocket Drag, Contact: Luke Pettigrew)

By April Williams

The ATA show�The unofficial beginning to the new archery year. On January 6th through 8th, the Indianapolis Convention Center hosted a mass meeting of the archery minds. From manufacturers to distributors, retailers and archers, there they all were under one roof.
Many new innovative products and services were unveiled over the weekend. Products such as "The Pocket Drag", "The RattleBox", Muddy Girl clothing by Moonshine made their premiere.
The mainstream bow companies showcased their new bows for 2011. PSE debuted their Omen Pro, rated 366 fps. Their new shoot-through riser, target competition bow, the Dominator, was also available for attendees to try out.
Pimp My Bow, a new service available for bow color/paint customizing was in attendance.
Another fun part about the ATA show is seeing all the outdoor stars such as:

Newberry in a Nutshell
By April Williams

The first Pro Am of 2011 has come to a close. It's always a joy to see friends and fellow shooters that we haven't seen since the Classic in August. So, how did it go?

Well, obviously, I don't have all of the answers. But I can tell you I did observe a few things worth mentioning. My "boss", Brian Dansby, wondered what the shooter numbers were in comparison to last year. From the counts that I was able to retrieve off of the ASA website, there were 1,112 shooters this past weekend, compared to 1,315 in 2010.

I'm sure the weather definitely played a huge role in the lack of attendance. Joey and I left Indiana Wednesday morning in between the two major storms that were to hit our home. We received 4-6" prior to our departure, however after we left the state, another 4-6" filled our streets. While out and about, we spoke to Luke and Annette Pettigrew about how their trip down to Newberry was. Luke and Annette live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At last count, I heard they were overwhelmed with 14+ inches of snow. In order for them arrive in time for the tournament, they drove six hours south (normally a three hour drive) to Dallas, Texas in order to catch a flight. Wow! The crazy things we do to shoot our bows!

The Florida Pro Am introduced a revised class - Women's Open. The Women's Open class was changed from unknown yardage on Saturday and known yardage on Sunday to unknown on both days. This was a change that was implemented by the ASA based on a suggestion of the majority of those women shooting in that class. The women felt that a change like this would better prepare those wanting to eventually move up to the Women's Pro class.

Ladies, our numbers definitely need some work though! In Florida, the Women's Open class had sixteen shooters! Our numbers definitely took a small tumble in 2010 with the unveiling of the Women's Known 40, however, we were down 33% from last year. Now, whether it was weather (I know some of you were snowed in), finances, family or other engagements, we really need a push in numbers to keep this class going. Any lady interested in shooting with a great bunch of gals, you are definitely more than welcome to come and join us! We know how to have the most fun! :

Life Goes On�
By April Williams

As we packed up our equipment and clothes and slowly pulled out of our driveway, I sat in the passenger seat of our Jeep, trying to relax after racing to get home once all of my work was complete, and just watched. I watched the high school kids climb into their parents' cars. Some kids strolled home with groups of friends. There were even a few that drove by our house on their way home, or maybe to an after school job, maybe even to a friend's house.

Once on the road, my observation and thoughts kind of left me as we tooled along down the highway, headed for the ASA Hoyt Louisiana ProAm in West Monroe. We arrived somewhere around 3am on Thursday morning and fell into the hotel bed that awaited us. We headed out to the Practice Range after a few hours of sleep, just like any other ASA trip that we take. Aside from the weather, the long weekend seemed to be getting along without a hitch.

Unfortunately, Friday afternoon my family was faced with a bit of a serious situation. Life or death was in question. As I learned the details of the situation, my stomach started to sink and my heart started to race. Thankfully, I was comforted by a loving fiancé and two of the best friends a person could have. By Sunday afternoon, everything seemed to finally get ironed out and all of my family was safe.

We arrived back home safely on Monday and hit the ground running. Grocery shopping, picking up our dogs from the sitter's, washing the mud out of our clothes, we were definitely pretty busy. Recently, we've been noticing some serious changes in Joey's 15-year-old Rottweiler, Bascha. She was having difficulties sitting down, she was refusing to eat, she would vomit when she did finally eat and she was having some slight bowel control issues. Should we have her put to sleep? The topic had arisen off and on for the past few months. The decision was finally made to take her to the veterinarian's office on Friday afternoon, and you guessed it, she was definitely in pain, unable to verbalize it and we said goodbye to a dear, loyal friend.

Friday evening, I began to reflect on the events that had taken place throughout the week. I even recalled my observations of the high school kids that I was watching before we left for our trip. I was reacquainted with reality. I know that once we are making our way to a shoot, we are totally focused on our goals for the weekend. We are surrounded by fellow shooters with similar goals�eat, sleep and shoot! The majority of shooters are those that make up the amateur classes and only do this for a competitive style of fun. We have day jobs, responsibilities at home, etc. While we're out traveling and shooting, life goes on all around us, even though while we are shooting our world doesn't seem to extend beyond our shooting ranges and hotels.

I'm not standing on a soapbox and preaching to anyone. I just want to remind everyone out there that there is life outside of archery. Make sure that you take time to spend time with those that mean the most to you. Enjoy each other. Tomorrow is never a guarantee.