Patlan Elementary School students show off their archery skills.
(Seguin) — It’s off to state today for a local group of elementary school students as they set their marks for a Texas championship. Ranked 15th in the state, the Patlan Elementary School Archery team will be competing today in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) State Tournament in Belton.
The students in January were among the record high 3,107 students from 131 Texas schools who participated in the Texas State Qualifying Tournament. Of those, only 88 percent of them earned the minimum qualifying score as either an individual or team to move on to state.
Kevin Engler, who serves as both the Patlan campus technologist and archery sponsor, is the one responsible for helping to bring the program to the campus after witnessing the sport at a HEB Camp for fifth graders.
Since then, Engler has been working to get the program going and now has a batch of 22 kids who will aim for the bullseye at this year’s state contest.
“Last year, we finally got it done to where we were teaching it in P.E. All the fourth and fifth graders were able to go through the training and we had two kids qualify for the state tournament. We shot at a qualifying tournament at the end of January and our team score wasn’t high enough to go as a team but we did have two kids that scored high enough as individuals. So we got to go to state. So, the first year that we fielded a team, we got to go to the state tournament and it was really, really cool. So, this year, the goal was to qualify the entire team. We talked to the kids about goals. We set some goals. We set short and long and intermediate goals and we did the whole thing and they checked off every single goal that we set for them. They did an absolutely amazing job. These kids have worked really, really hard and it’s helped them with behavior. It’s helped them with their grades. It’s helped them focus. That’s the neat thing about archery and why we wanted to do archery here,” said Engler.
Engler says Patlan is the only San Antonio area team to his knowledge that will be competing at today’s tournament. He says he’s extremely proud of his kids who practice twice a week and who have been working really hard for this opportunity.
“You can have a total of 24 kids on a team. But, they only take the top 12 scores. So you can have 24 really, really awesome shooters but they are only going to take the top 12 which kind of levels the playing field and so based on those 12 scores, you can have a total of 3,600 total points which is a perfect complete team round. There’s actually some teams that get really close to that believe it or not. There’s some amazing, amazing shooters in the state. We’ve got some really good shooters here too and our team was in the 2400 something was our qualifying score. So at the end of January, we had 18 kids shoot — pretty much this group right here. We took the top 12 scores, submitted them and it was way above the cutoff. So, what they do is they look at the number of kids, the number of teams and they set a minimum qualifying score. So for this year, I think it was like 1,600 — the minimum qualifying score and we were way above it,” said Engler.
Among those on the team is Patlan fourth grader Ayden Gonzales. The 10-year-old says there is no other place he would rather be this Friday.
“I did it last year but I didn’t go to state but this year, I am. I feel like archery is like the best sport and it just makes me feel alive when I play. I’m a little nervous but I’m happy to go,” said Gonzales.
Bringing plenty of confidence to the state contest is 11-year-old Bobby Barrientos. The fifth grader says he’s ready to do his best.
“I’m nervous but like I think it will be fun. I’ve got nothing to worry about,” said Barrientos.
Also pushing through any nervousness is fifth grader Jerin Cervantes. The 11-year-old says he’s excited about working as a team and is ready to have some fun.
“I’m going to be nervous but I think I’m going to do okay,” said Cervantes.
Abren Ham and Eddie Barrera, now sixth graders at Barnes Middle School, were the two who made history last year as the first Seguin students to earn a spot in the state tournament.
Patlan has five certified archery instructors on staff. They include fourth grade English/Language Arts teacher Juan Hernandez; PE coaches Louise Kaina and Jennifer Autry and first grade teacher Brittany Travis.
School Principal Linda Guzman says she credits the generosity of groups and businesses who have and continue to support the local program.
“The Patlan Archery program has benefited from amazing financial support locally and statewide,” said Guzman. “This is an amazing opportunity for our students to compete at the state level and it has been a true community effort to get them there. I thank all of our business sponsors and Patlan families for their support.”
Supporters include Alligator Dental, Cornerstone Pediatrics, Trinity Oaks, Guadalupe River Camp, Lone Star Bowhunters Association, Texas Bowhunter.com and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
A grand send-off celebration for the archery team was held this morning. Taking part in the districtwide celebration were members of the Seguin Matador Band and Cheer team.