A potential Olympic archer has joined Pattaya Archery Club, and has very quickly learned how to shoot a modern recurve bow with great accuracy. In fact her style is so text-book that in the coach’s opinion she should be a poster girl for other newcomers to copy.
Dasha Dmitrieva, an 18-year-old Russian girl, is a pupil at the Regent’s International School in Pattaya where she got her introduction to the basics of archery. Her interest in the sport was kindled and so she recently joined the Pattaya Archery Club to get greater experience. Very soon she was shooting quite accurately, and in the opinion of Eric Hearn, the club’s coach, she has real potential to be selected for the Russian archery team in a future Olympic Games.
Dasha is presented with The President’s Cup by Eric Hearn.
“If she ever goes back to her home town of Khabarovsk in Eastern Russia, the local archery club would welcome her with open arms,” said Eric.
Her remarkable progress in archery enabled Eric to award her the club’s President’s Cup in recognition for how quickly she showed her true potential to achieve great things in the sport.
Dasha Dmitrieva, a future Olympic archer?
“She is so young and yet so talented, commented Eric. “Like all newcomers to any sport, Dasha had her share of challenges and reversals, but she has demonstrated a very high level of motivation and determination and is driven to excel in whatever she puts her mind to,” he added.
These personal qualities have enabled Dasha to quickly absorb the advice of the club’s coach, and try out whatever changes he suggests. Her will to succeed means that she only has to be told something once …and so her rate of progress has been a joy to watch.
Dasha started shooting at 18 metres (the shortest distance in target archery) and once she could put most of her arrows in the centre of the target, the coach advised her to move on to shoot at the 30 metres target. Again, even after just a few shots, she was peppering the centre of the target with her arrows. A natural archer if ever there was one.
Pattaya Archery Club provides free initial coaching for anyone interested in finding out if they like to shoot a bow. Those who start from this very basic point are automatically eligible for the chance to win The President’s Cup. This is presented on a bi-monthly basis to the archer who shows the most progress in the sport.
Archery is often called “the thinking man’s sport” as excellence in archery is achieved by using mind control to consistently replicate a flawless technique, for every arrow. It is mental strength and not physical strength that is the key to success in archery.
So for Dasha, archery is clearly “the thinking woman’s sport.”
Note: Pattaya Archery Club meets on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at 10.00 a.m. and finishing at about noon or thereafter. Anyone % Thai or farang, young or old, man or woman % is welcome to come along to the Pattaya Shooting Park in Hua Yai and find out what it is all about.
Beginners’ coaching is held on any of the club’s meeting days. The coach’s services and the use of the club’s bows, arrows and other equipment are free for beginners, and so it costs nothing to see if this challenging sport is for you.
For more details visit Pattaya Archery Club’s website at www.pattayaarcheryclub.com, or telephone Eric, the club’s President, on 089 535 1193.
