Growing up today, kids have a lot of choices for their afterschool activities. Some will take up sports like soccer and baseball, while others will be lucky enough to find a hidden treasure on Orion Road in Orion Township in the form of the Royal Oak Archery Club.
The club has nourished the young talent of three girls who recently finished with first, second and third place honors in the 19th Annual National Archery Association Target Championship, an outdoor shooting event recently held in Redding, PA.
Julia Pearson of Lake Orion took first place, her sister Anna took third place, and fellow Royal Oak Archery Club archer and Rochester resident Amanda Schlegel, 12, took second in the bowman female recurve competition. The recurve bow indicates a long bow, and is the same style used in Olympic competition.
Phil Pearson, Julia and Anna’s father and a coach for beginning archers at the Royal Oak Club, said the family first learned of the club’s existence on Orion Road when they were riding bicycles on the Paint Creek Trail several years ago.
“They got an interest (in archery) through a summer camp at school,” he said. “(The Royal Oak Archery Club) has a Junior Olympics Archery Development Program.”
Julia, a seventh grader at The Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills; Anna, a fifth grader at Brookfield Academy in Rochester Hills; and Schlegel are coached at the Royal Oak Archery Club by advanced level coach Rich Andrews, who said the sport of archery can be very addicting for kids.
Andrews, who has coached the sport for 18 years and is trained to be able to coach at the National Olympic level, lives in Oak Park but spends a lot of time on the road with archers like Julia, Anna and Schlegel.
“My home is where the tournament is,” he said.
“I’d say the biggest factor in (the girls’) success, besides the hard work, is Rich’s coaching,” said Phil. “He donates his time to work with the kids. I’m learning from Rich just like the girls.”
Julia, Anna and Schlegel each have about four years in the program at the Royal Oak Club, which was instigated by coach Lynn Chalmers, and is run today by Chalmers, and coaches Jim Salisbury, Dave Piet, Chris Case and Andrews.
Julia and Anna compete in archery tournaments, both indoor and outdoor, about several times a year, and continue to practice the sport throughout the winter at indoor facilities, like the pro shop in Royal Oak maintained by the Royal Oak Archery Club’s owner, also providing the name for the club in Orion Township.
Both girls have friends who are just getting involved in the sport after witnessing their successes.
“Before a big tournament, we usually practice every day for a couple of hours,” said Julia, 12. “Now we’re down to 2-3 times a week.”
“It’s fun and I like the competition,” nine-year-old Anna said.
“There is really no way you can fail, except not meeting your own standards,” Schlegel said. “We meet a lot of other kids this way…at the last tournament there was a team from Taiwan. We trade little things.”
Julia said her classmates always congratulate her on her tournament wins, and she has been asked by her teacher to put something about it in the school’s newsletter.
“She wants me to bring my bow in and talk about archery (to the other kids),” she said. “A lot of people get interested just from me talking about it.”
Archery is a relatively affordable sport for kids to try, with the Royal Oak Archery Club offering equipment to use with only a $4 range fee.
“The equipment takes a lot of work as far as tuning and selection,” he said. “As the kids grow, we have to keep changing the equipment.
“I think the first set (of bow and arrows) for my kids was $150,” Phil continued. “You can compete at the national competition with $150 equipment.”
Schlegel is currently working with a bow and arrows set up that cost $800.
“That’s the last (bow) she’ll be getting for a while,” said mom Terri.
The Royal Oak Archery Club is located at 2700 Orion Road in Lake Orion. The phone number for the club is 693-9799, and club president Doug Waite can be reached at 628-1076.