Helen Campisi, 82, strolls into an indoor archery range with a
big, black case. She puts it on the floor with minimal fuss, opens
it and pulls out a large bow and begins adding attachments,
tweaking things and getting her bag of arrows settled snugly around
her hips. Helen sets up with an ease that says she’s done this
before. She peers through her eyeglasses, held firmly in place with
a decorative chain, gives the bow a once-over before finding her
place behind a yellow line and taking aim at a bullseye downrange.
She purses her perfectly painted red lips and lets the arrow go.
Not exactly a bullseye, but darn close.
Helen Campisi, 82, strolls into an indoor archery range with a big, black case. She puts it on the floor with minimal fuss, opens it and pulls out a large bow and begins adding attachments, tweaking things and getting her bag of arrows settled snugly around her hips. Helen sets up with an ease that says she’s done this before. She peers through her eyeglasses, held firmly in place with a decorative chain, gives the bow a once-over before finding her place behind a yellow line and taking aim at a bullseye downrange. She purses her perfectly painted red lips and lets the arrow go. Not exactly a bullseye, but darn close.
“I’ve been doing this for four or five months total, and I enjoy it,” Helen said. “It keeps me fit and it keeps me busy. What else should I be doing? Sitting in a rocking chair and vegetating?”
Helen’s son, Curtis, is a co-owner of Predator’s Archery in Gilroy. She said she was trying to think of something she could do for exercise that wouldn’t be too hard on her body. She also wanted an activity that wasn’t nonstop so she could stop and rest whenever she wanted.
“I called up my son and I said, ‘Do you suppose I can come down there and shoot some arrows, or am I too old?'” Helen said. “He said, ‘No, come on down,’ and I said, ‘Good,’ and that’s what I did. I came down and I tried it out and I liked it. They’ve tried to get me to enter some competitions, but I don’t think I’m ready yet. Soon, though.”
A growing number of seniors have taken up archery in recent years, Curtis said, and many who started the sport as a hobby are now winning major competitions and setting records.
San Martin residents Linda and Ralph Adams, ages 57 and 65, respectively, got into archery about four years ago when rodents started causing damage on their property. They wanted to get the pest problem under control without using poisons that could harm other animals on their land and without using firearms. Archery seemed to be the best solution to them.
“I did archery in high school, but that was some time ago – but I got five free lessons when I bought my bow, and after some practice I was getting pretty good again,” Linda said. “Ralph came along and watched me have my lessons and practice for about three months, and then he decided he wanted to try it, too. The rest is history.”
What started out as a practical solution to pest control became a full-time hobby for the couple. Linda has won multiple championships in competition and set records in several competitions, including during state competitions, regional senior Olympic games and indoor competitions. She’s set records using two different kinds of bows. Ralph has medaled in regional senior Olympic games, state and national competitions, as well as winning international competitions. Linda has lost about 15 pounds since taking up archery and Ralph has lost about 20 pounds.
“It’s not just good exercise, it’s something that the majority of people our age can afford to do,” Ralph said. “Once you buy your equipment, it doesn’t cost much to stay involved. You can join archery clubs for about $30 a year, it costs about $20 to enter most of the tournaments, and there are a lot of practice ranges that are free to use. In Santa Clara County, you can go to Mount Madonna, Black Mountain and Stevens Creek (county parks), which all have outdoor ranges that are open to the public. It’s a lot easier to afford than golf or tennis.”
San Juan Bautista resident Dennis High, 57, said his first experience with archery was in junior high, but he came back to the sport after 30 years of competing in handball.
“My knees went, but I still wanted to compete in something and stay active, so I thought I’d give archery a try again because I really used to enjoy it,” he said. “It was perfect. It’s a sport you don’t hear much about, then you try it and find out there are a gazillion people into it, and they’re really interesting people.”
Because there are different forms of archery, there’s something for everyone, Dennis said. People can use outdoor or indoor ranges, hunt with archery or do field courses, which tie hiking and archery together. Some people use traditional bows, but others use compound bows, which have a system of wheels and pulleys that make it possible for someone to pull about 40 pounds of weight only using the effort of pulling about 8 pounds.
“I belong to several clubs, and I’m out there with people from the whole gamut,” Dennis said. “In Sacramento, there’s a woman in the club who is blind but she wins competitions. At nationals, there was a guy in a wheelchair who pulled the bow with his teeth and he’s great. My coach is training a 13-year-old boy. The women’s world champion lives in Salinas and is part of local clubs. Anyone can do this. It’s great.”
