# Is Archery a "team" sport?



## lksseven (Mar 21, 2010)

It's a lot like baseball. Or maybe the Riders Cup in golf. All the action is individual - if a teammate stinks it up, it doesn't physically affect my score (unlike if a lineman misses his block and the quarterback gets creamed - in that instance, individual performances do affect each other physically). The affects of being on a team in an individual sport are psychological - esprit d' corp (which is a real, tangible benefit for some people, not so big for others). If a team is comprised of a complementary mix of personality types, then the individuals are more likely to perform to their best - if the mix is wrong, then the experience will be less satisfactory .... the eternal mystery/puzzle for baseball managers to solve.

That's just my opinion, of course.


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## pilotmill (Dec 10, 2008)

guess we could put it up there with golf. Just the cash is a bit less....hwell:


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## Serious Fun (May 12, 2003)

Chinese Tea said:


> Hello
> 
> I'm the vice president of a recently established archery club. For the past year we've been teaching people to shoot on campus and have accumulated some club equipment through membership dues. This year we (the officers of this club) have set a goal for ourselves to form a competitive team and compete in tournaments.
> 
> ...


Chinese Tea, 
Sounds like you are diving in and having fun. Tell us more about yourself and the campus club.

Team means a lot of things. When a club team travels and competes individually, the team members act as support for each other. It is often helpful to travel together, share rides, coaches and support. In individual competition, as the elimination rounds move on, those that drop out become the cheering section for the club team members still in the game. 

There are some events that offer team rounds where folks including club members form three archer category teams and mixed division two archer teams.

In Arizona we have club teams. The clubs vie to see which team dominate the podium. We have a Arizona state team that competes agianst California in the Duel in the Desert. Internationally, team USA competes under the stars and stripes hoping to hear the star spangled banner for a winning gold and be a part of the medal count for the country.

The best chance for clubs, state, countries that have a lot of good archers to medal is via the team round. Target archery is wonderful. A indvidiaul an play and have fun. Those that can form teams can have even more fun.


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## Duss (May 23, 2006)

A friend of mine gave me that beautiful definition of archery :
"An individual sport practiced in groups"


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## lksseven (Mar 21, 2010)

perfect description


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## calbowdude (Feb 13, 2005)

I had the pleasure of hanging out with some of the UC Berkeley and a few ex-Stanford shooters at dinner this past weekend. One of the biggest things I saw was that they had a common interest, and were able to keep each other company after the shooting was done. 

While at the tournament, they had esprit de corps in terms of stretching, warming up, encouraging each other, and helping out with tools/supplies/spare parts while at the tournament. Not to mention the fact that they could carpool and split hotel costs up as well.


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## archerymom2 (Mar 28, 2008)

Does your school have a swim team? Cross-country team? Track team? Tennis team? 

I'd say it's similar to those events. Most of the time you compete alone, and the actions of others on the team don't impact your outcome (unlike, say basketball or volleyball, where teamwork is essential to the game). But there are also team events in archery (like relays in swimming or track). 

And as others have said above, you get a lot of mental benefit of having a team standing by you!


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## Rosylyinter (May 30, 2021)

I also tried to create an association to register a new team in the registry and get access to competitions. Technically it's not hard to do, but it's hard to agree to become full members. It takes a long time. Speaking of skiing, my people on the team even bought Bluehouse Skis - The Best Tips & Guides on Snowboard, Ski & Snow their own equipment. They found a store to buy skis and clothes, they cleaned the area themselves, and brought new friends to form their team. I wonder how you will proceed, because I haven't been able to do everything.


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## woof156 (Apr 3, 2018)

lksseven said:


> It's a lot like baseball. Or maybe the Riders Cup in golf. All the action is individual - if a teammate stinks it up, it doesn't physically affect my score (unlike if a lineman misses his block and the quarterback gets creamed - in that instance, individual performances do affect each other physically). The affects of being on a team in an individual sport are psychological - esprit d' corp (which is a real, tangible benefit for some people, not so big for others). If a team is comprised of a complementary mix of personality types, then the individuals are more likely to perform to their best - if the mix is wrong, then the experience will be less satisfactory .... the eternal mystery/puzzle for baseball managers to solve.
> 
> That's just my opinion, of course.


I agree with IKS and others archery is individual and you always really compete against yourself. You can do it as a member of a team but what you do is what you do....there can be winners and losers but your shots are your shots. Not unlike many other sports often played in team format like golf.


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## SHPoet (Nov 13, 2009)

I have really though about this and, no, I don't think it is a team sport. It really is just the archer.


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