The 22 members of the Queen Ann Archers Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) team have been practicing hard for a number of tournaments this indoor season. In February, Coach Lani Young and 8 team members made the trip to Reading PA to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Championship. Cadet Greg Begenyi took 1st place, shooting a 561 personal best. Greg and new member Robbie Teague also competed in the VA State Indoor Championship the following weekend, where Robbie earned the title of VA State Champion for Cub boys and Greg had the highest score for Cadet boys.
   The high point of our indoor season was the trip to Harrisonburg VA for the 2006 National JOAD Indoor Archery Championship, where Coach Mary LeCompte and former QAA member Nicki LeCompte served as tournament judges. Ten QAA kids took part in the competition, where they met other young JOAD shooters in the East region from as far away as New York and Ohio. Cadet Greg Begenyi took 3rd place in Harrisonburg, and 1st place in the additional 2-day National Indoor Archery Championship (where his final score placed him 5th in the country). Others who participated in the Indoor JOAD Nationals include William Bennett, Kevin Donahue, David Forsyth, Anna Jorgensen, McCay and Emilie Pratt, Jennifer Root, Charles Simpson, and Robbie Teague. Most recently, Coach Lani Young organized and ran a very successful VA State JOAD Championship, held at the Bull Run Shooting Center in Centreville, and Coach Mary LeCompte was the tournament judge. As many as 8 members of QAA came out to have fun and earn some medals, along with members of the Bull Run Spider Shooters JOAD club.
   Now that indoor season is winding down, we will begin shooting outdoors at the Chapter target archery range beginning Saturday, April 22nd. QAA holds weekly practices on Saturday mornings from 9:00-11:00 a.m., with coaches also available Wednesdays from 6:30 until dark beginning April 26th. All children (ages 8-18) in the Arlington-Fairfax Chapter of IWLA are encouraged to join QAA and discover the fun of recurve archery. Visit the QAA website (www.queenannarchers.org) for more information.
   The outdoor season will culminate with two major tournaments, with many QAA archers traveling to Roanoke this July to compete in the VA Commonwealth Games. This tournament is always a great time for all, and a chance for our young shooters to hang out together at the pool, eat at their favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, and just enjoy the camaraderie of spending 2 days together away from home. Several of our archers may attend the 2006 National JOAD Outdoor Archery Championship in Lebanon, OH this summer, where recurve and compound archers 18 and under from all over the country will spend 5 days having a great vacation and shooting lots of arrows!

   Saturday, May 20, is the big day! The annual Picnic and Fishing Derby for children and adults with disabilities will be in full swing at the large pavilion and the pond with our guests able to participate in air rifle shooting, archery shooting and, of course, fishing for the big one before an all-you-can-eat traditional picnic lunch at the pavilion. This event may include members, their family, children and friends with disabilities. Let Bucky know you want to participate with how many will be in your party.
   All these activities are carried out by Chapter member volunteers, and we need to expand our list. Many, many of our volunteers come out every year to help with this event and wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s a really great event, but preparation is needed. There’s decorating and set up to do, there’s help needed for the air rifle experience and for the archery experience. There’s help needed to accompany our guests to the various activities and especially to help with the fishing. Last, but not least, is the clean-up. While vital, it doesn’t take long and many hands make short work of the loading and carrying.
   Call Bucky, the force behind this special event, and tell him you’d like to help. He can be reached at bsills01@aol.com or at 703.830.0458.