When a Wrong Tournament goes very Right
Every archer has a tournament where circumstances are not in their favor. Everyone knows the feeling; weather is rough, location is sketchy, maybe your equipment was damaged in travel or a flight was delayed. If you’re lucky, the tournament will go smoothly or perhaps just one thing goes wrong and it can be managed. Sometimes we aren’t so lucky. But it is in those moments that the archery community really shines.
My name is Anessa Williamson and this story starts on the 17th of August. My coach and I are heading to Virginia for Outdoor Nationals, boarding a plane all the way across the country. The trip immediately took a detour from the plan: we were stuck on the runway because our layover in Dallas was shrouded in an intense storm. Three false starts, four hours later, we take off and make it to Dallas- but our connection was cancelled, and we are forced to spend the night there in a hotel the airline wouldn’t pay for. We ask the airline if we can have our bags back to make sure they get on the plane with us the next day, and three times they assure us they’ll make it to Virginia. Luckily, our next two flights went smoothly, and we arrived in Virginia unscathed. We would miss practice, but hey, we train for a reason, no big deal.
But as we wait, tapping our feet at the baggage claim, watching the luggage make its way around the carousel, our worst fears are confirmed. None of our bags made it with us. At this point I can feel panic welling in my chest, and my hands start to shake. My godsend of a coach, addresses the employees and we learn that one bag was sent up to New York and would arrive much, much later that evening, but we didn’t know which bag it was and had no way of finding out. The remaining two bags wouldn’t arrive until the next day. Keep in mind, qualifications start the next morning. We would later find out that the one bag was not my equipment.
And so, we scrambled to find a solution. “Do you know anyone that has any spare equipment?” I ask.
“I’ll check,” she replies, whipping out her phone, typing away furiously like the hero she is. Theresa Caballero, a local archer and friend, pointed us in the right direction.
That night, within hours, we were saved. The archery community, notably the Women Master’s, Master’s 60+ and Master’s 70+ division, converged upon us in the digital realm of Facebook, everyone offering something, people pointing out suggestions and tuning and plans for the following morning. Many were up until the late hours of the evening in order to put together something, anything, for me to shoot. A bow here, a quiver there, several sets of arrows, a spare finger tab, an extra stand, all of it. One person in particular spent the night setting up her spare bow and waited for us to get there to try it out. Her name is Elizabeth Ginebaugh and I will never forget her kindness.
The next morning, I got to meet everyone else who had volunteered to help: Cadice Raines, Allison Eaton, Martha Anderson, and Barbara Schettler-Jehl, among others. The setup wasn’t perfect, but the fact that I had a bow in my hand, and (several!) sets of arrows in my quiver, meant the world to me. These people put in so much effort and kindness for someone they didn’t know, who they’d never met before, and I am forever grateful to them. I was surrounded by people trying their best, pinning a too-big chest guard together with safety pins, all saying words of encouragement. I had been adopted by their group, and I’m not going to lie; I almost cried tears of joy. It was my last big tournament of the season, and my fourth qualifying tournament for national rankings; I had to shoot, and they made that possible.
I’ll admit that my score left a lot to be desired, but the truth is, I was just happy to be there, on the line, alongside my fellow archers, participating in the sport that I’ve dedicated the last 9 years to. And more than the logistical gain, these people have gifted me a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Years from now, I will look back, and I will think of them, and I will think about the family that we all have become in the archery community. We have each other's backs. We take care of our people. And above all- we overcome adversity together.
To those of you that got me through this tournament, I want to say: Thank You. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I hope your kindness is repaid in kind. See you at the next tournament!
Side note:
I asked Anessa to pen down her experience on her own words about what other archers (and Coaches) would consider their worst nightmare during a tournament season:To arrive at your destination, physically worn down, patience stretched to its limit and no archery bowcase to meet you.
For a moment, that day it happened to us, our spirit sank - briefly - but I came to a decision that the next day, with or without the equipment, we will be at the field first thing in the morning. I’m glad that Anessa said it first and that’s when I know, I have to do something, anything. Giving up was not in our vocabulary. Sure enough, someone heard our plea for help and it went down the great grapevine of contacts, exchanging information, meeting up until 11pm, the night before the first round of ranking. In 30 some years of my archery life, my fellow archers, my adopted community have never failed me and this is the best take away, in the worst travel experience we ever had. KINDNESS and SUPPORT.
Anessa is right, this is the best “gift” we can ever give, to her generation and the next. Not a medal, or 15 minutes of fame. Out of kindness, we lift someone’s spirit. Out of unconditional support, we show them that you are never alone. Heroes don't always wear capes and leap tall buildings. We all know how precious our archery equipment is, specially we spent days tuning, assembling and matching it to our skills. There were no questions asked, handing them over other than what else she needed. There was not one doubt if they could trust their arrows and bow to strangers. All they heard was that a fellow archer is in need and that we can’t allow one to stay off the field.
Put aside everything else, the world is full of good people, it just happens that most of them are archers. Thank you to the Masters Divisions for the tools and equipment. Thank you Masters Ladies for the pep talk and for stepping up with encouragement during the competition. Thank you for reminding me that what we do on the field and off it help shape and define what it means to be in the archery community. You deserve proper recognition for your outstanding act of kindness.
