Student Feature: Kelly Davis
Student Feature: Kelly Davis
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Kelly Davis began doing archery in third grade when her mother placed her in an archery camp. In the beginning, she did not like it: “I was horrible at it,” she remembers. In the intervening years, she has improved.
She started competing when she was in tenth grade, and is now in her third competitive season. Davis has competed across the country in numerous states and regions including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Texas, South Dakota, Florida, Michigan, and New England. The competition in Michigan was the World Qualifying Tournament; Davis didn’t make the team but came in 24th place. This means that she is the 24th best player in the world in the Cadette Compound Division. In addition, Davis is 9th in the country for the Junior Compound Division.
Davis shoots with a compound bow, which looks somewhat similar to a hunting bow. She practices seven days a week, for an hour or two a day at a range in Hudson, and sometimes in her basement. Davis explained that at National Tournaments, there are team events where players are randomly assigned to play with other players in their division. She also belongs to a competitive team--the Bear Creek Extremes in Colorado.
In the fall Davis will be attending Syracuse University, and hopes to found an archery club at the college. Davis started the archery club at the Littleton High School for her Girl Scout Gold Award Project in 2015. She raised money through grants and fundraising to purchase ten compound bow hybrid kits and ten targets. She also worked with Mrs. Buonacore, the middle school Health teacher, to bring the club to the Littleton Middle School.
Davis works with young children and students in the High School and Middle School teams to help improve their archery skills. She is certified through USA Archery as a Level 1 Instructor: this means she is able to run school clubs. She also coaches through NAS--National Archery in the Schools Program. NAS helped Davis get the equipment and grants for the clubs.
In December 2018, Davis discovered a passion for archery photography. She wanted to participate and help more with National Tournaments, and so far she has photographed two regional tournaments. At one of the regional tournaments, she had the opportunity to work with a media company and use their professional equipment. Davis aspires to work in media broadcasting. Davis says that her favorite part of doing archery is the friends that she’s made, “I have friend’s across the country.” She also has made many connections by participating in tournaments and working with the media company. She loves the inclusiveness of the sport and coaching archery beginners.
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