4-H Archery Team Competes at State Contest | UGA Extension Forsyth County

Heather Haines, 4-H Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County

Five middle school youth and an adult coach at an outdoor archery match — Members of the Forsyth County 4-H Archery team and one of their coaches, Billy Wood.

Project S.A.F.E. (Shooting Awareness Fun and Education) is quickly becoming one of Georgia’s most popular 4-H Activities. Objectives of this program are:

To involve youth in a life skills program that teaches safe and responsible use of archery equipment including sound decision-making skills, self-discipline and concentration.
To promote the highest standards of safety, sportsmanship, and ethical behavior.
To strengthen families through participation in life-long recreational activities.
To complement and enhance the impact of existing safety, shooting, and Hunter Education programs pursing experiential educational methods and progressive development of skills and abilities.

In Forsyth County, 4-H youth in 4^th-12^th grade can participate in the Project S.A.F.E. Archery Team. The team practices weekly from August to April and competes in the Indoor Archery Match in Perry each January and Target Challenge Weekend in May.

Divisions in 4-H Archery are divided by both age and discipline. The three age divisions are Cloverleaf (4th through 6th grades) Junior (7^th and 8^th grades) and Senior (9^th through 12^th. The disciplines that 4-H’ers can compete in are Novice, Recurve, and Compound.

The team is led by our exceptional volunteer coaches, Kyle and Ashlee Jaacks, assisted by certified coaches Billy Wood, Mike Mamrick, Drew Rhoades, and Sudhakar Malapati. Certified volunteers include Jesse Barronton and Deb Wood.

Target Challenge Weekend (also known as the state archery match) was held at Rock Eagle 4-H Center on May 6, 2023. Youth who qualified to participate in this year’s state match are: Aarush Aritakula, Tallulah Bates, Clark Chistensen, Sir Eesha Datla, Nicholas Findley, Sophia Jaacks, Mohana Malapati, Rathna Malapati, Andrew Rhoades, Cole Ryan, Blake Tuner, Elin Turner, and Maya Wood.

The Senior Recurve FITA Team placed 2^nd in the state. Team members are Sri Eesha Datla, Aarush Aritakula, Mohana Malapati, and Rathna Malapati.

Forsyth County 4-H is very proud of all these amazing archers and their hard work this season. For more information about the Forsyth County 4-H Archery program, please contact Forsyth County 4-H Agent Heather Haines at heather.haines@uga.edu.