EAST LANSING, Mich— The distinct thump of arrows hitting their target reverberates through the corridor at the Demmer Shooting Sports and Education Center. Located just miles beyond Michigan State’s campus, the building houses both indoor and outdoor archery ranges, a retail shop, and offers classes for beginner and experienced shooters.
Most people associate archery with summer camp. Or even Katniss Everdeen’s signature bow and arrow from the “The Hunger Games” franchise.
For some members of MSU Archery, the Demmer Center is what drew them to Michigan State when applying to colleges.
“I had a friend back home whose parents went to Michigan State, and they told me about the Demmer [Center] and the team here. That was a really big thing for me because archery has always been a really important part of my life,” team secretary Matthew Griswold, a chemistry sophomore, said. “I started shooting eight or nine years ago, and I haven’t really put it down since.”
For Leland Huber, the club president and a biochemistry and microbiology junior, archery was not on his radar until finding the club at Sparticipation, MSU’s annual back-to-school club fair.
“I have been doing [archery] for a while, but I hadn’t really been into competitive archery until I got onto the team. I didn’t come to MSU knowing that we had an awesome team,” Huber said.
MSU Archery separates itself into two distinct practice groups: team and club. The club section welcomes essentially anyone who walks through the doors and attracts around 30 archers each Sunday. This relaxed, low-stakes environment presents unique avenues of archery practice, including 3-D archery shoots with pretend animals acting as targets.
“Club is the no-experience, no-equipment program. It’s fun,” Huber said.
The 17-person team division of MSU Archery travels to numerous competitions throughout the school year, while also hosting a pair here in East Lansing. On Jan. 21, the team traveled to the Lancaster (Penn.) Archery Classic, the East Coast’s largest indoor archery tournament.
At this prestigious tournament, Griswold took home first place in the recurve collegiate event. This style involves a bow that curves outwards, allowing the arrow to travel further in a shorter amount of time. Sports enthusiasts might recognize recurve archery from television, as it is the only form of archery featured at the Summer Olympics.
“It’s the first tournament I’ve won ever,” Griswold said. “I think they had over 30 people in my division. I wasn’t expecting to win that day because I started off with some equipment issues and I had to change my nocks (the rear part of an arrow that connects to the bowstring) in the middle of my round.”
MSU Archery annually hosts the Fall Classic at the Demmer Center in early September, the largest USA Archery style outdoor tournament in Michigan.
“It’s one of those tournaments that has become more than a tournament. It’s become a thing that happens to support the team and enjoy outdoor archery,” Huber said.
The team will assist with hosting another major tournament in late February: 57th USA Archery Indoor Nationals and Junior Olympic Archery Development Program (JOAD) Indoor Nationals. Team members like Huber and Griswold support tournament operations, while also competing in the event held at the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason, Michigan.
“We run the table for people who have questions or if they need water…Then, they come to the front and we check scorecards, making sure that the electronic scorecard is the same with the paper scorecard,” Huber said.
Some team members prepare for competition by focusing on their physical strength, completing rigorous arm and shoulder workouts. Fixating on these muscle groups simulates carrying archery equipment that can weigh between 40 and 60 pounds.
“It depends on how I’m feeling because some days I’ll be really, really focused. I have my earbuds in; I’m not talking to anyone. I’m just trying to get as many arrows as I can down range. Then there’s days where it’s less intense,” he said.
Archery requires its shooters to work intently on their mental fortitude and focus. As a collegiate team, MSU Archery seems to have mastered the balance amid competitiveness and friendship. Between hosting lively events for all skill-levels to fostering life-long friendship through the sport, the community means as much to them as success at competitions.
“It’s really enjoyable to be able to share the sport with people. I think most people see that it’s a community of people who like the same thing, and also a community that’s willing to share that with people,” Huber said.