You don’t have to hit the target to get an A in Bakersfield College’s archery class.
According to Brent Damron, professor of health and physical education, besides passing the safety test, the most important part of passing the class is showing up and then passing a final that covers archery basics.
Damron doesn’t just instruct and watch out for the student’s safety, he takes his own turns at the target. “Nuts!” said Damron as his own arrow missed the hay bail and hit the hill.
Damron began teaching the spring archery class, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. in the field next to the stadium, in 2006. Sandi Taylor, athletic director and softball coach, has been teaching the fall class since 1990. The archery class does not meet in the summer.
According to Damron, he has had no specific training in the field of archery. “I learned it on the run, I have no formal training,” said Damron.
BC is currently the only college in the Kern Community College District with an archery class.
According to Damron and Vesta Walck, women’s athletic equipment attendant, archery is one of the more popular physical education classes at BC. There are currently 35 students in this semesters class and could possibly hold up to 40 permitting that there is enough equipment. It is so popular that on Feb. 22 at least one student was still trying to get in, even though the last day to enroll was Feb. 5.
“Rarely are more than four people absent,” said Walck.
According to Walck, the bows and other equipment necessary for the class are “probably 40 years old.”
There are not enough arm guards for all of the current students. An arm guard protects the arm from the lash of the string when the arrow is released.
“Arm guards and finger tabs are an important safety item,” said Taylor. “Money is tight and we just do the best we can to provide a quality class.”
Damron explained how the students progress throughout the semester, during class Thursday Feb. 22, “We’ve just begun using targets. Before, we just tried to hit the bails.”
The class began with general calisthenics before the students lined up in front of the five targets 30 yards away.
“Ready up, knock ’em, you are clear to shoot,” says Damron, before the first group of students let their arrows fly.
According to student Kristine Adams, 20, “I really like it, it’s almost therapeutic.” When asked why she joined the class, Adams replied, “I probably shouldn’t say, no. It seemed like it would be different than all the other classes.”