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May 02, 2016

Paralympian Eric Bennett Earns Gold Olympian Adult Achievement Award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - USA Archery's Achievement Award Program recognizes individuals who have achieved increasingly challenging scores with Olympian awards and Bronze, Silver and Gold pins. These awards signify continued hard work and dedication to the sport of archery. This past quarter, two-time Paralympian and World Champion Eric Bennett earned his Adult Achievement Gold Pin.

"I have now earned my Gold Pin in both compound and recurve," commented Bennett on his incredible achievement - scoring a 592 out of 600 while shooting with just one arm. Bennett uses the Adult Achievement Award Program both for himself and as an example for his students, who he encourages to follow the JOAD Achievement Award Program: "I use it as a motivator for both myself and my students to see that even myself as a Paralympian who has shot all over the world, I take this seriously and it's a great tool to learn how to set goals and to get where you want to be, not just in archery but in any sport."

Bennett added: "The JOAD pin system is a great way for kids to get started, especially those early pins, but then shooting for the Olympian pins really means something and it's a great benchmark for those athletes who really want to accomplish something beyond that and so I wanted them to know that as a coach, I feel it's important and as an athlete it's important to me too."

The USA Archery Achievement Award Program not only helps archers learn about goal setting, but Bennett also agrees that it is a great option for archers who want to shoot recreationally and improve, but are not necessarily interested in training for competition. "We have a lot of archers that just love shooting, but they're not in a situation where they're going to be practicing 3-4 times per week, putting in the hours and the arrows to make an adult USAT team and travel, and the vast majority of kids aren't that way either. The pin system allows those archers to have goals and have the desire to be successful and achieve something in a sport that they enjoy."

Archers wishing to shoot for these awards must have a current membership with USA Archery (temporary and recreational not included) and be part of a registered USA Archery JOAD, Collegiate or Adult club. Club leaders can purchase achievement award pins online but must request Bronze, Silver and Gold level awards from USA Archery by submitting the request for recognition form along with a signed copy of their scorecard.

In addition to a certificate and pin, first time recipients of a Bronze, Silver or Gold Olympian award will receive USA Archery merchandise corresponding to their achievement.

Share your accomplishments on social media! #JOADOlympian & #AdultArcheryAchievement. Learn more about JOAD and Adult Achievement Awards. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Please join USA Archery in congratulating the following Olympian Award and Bronze, Silver and Gold Pin recipients from last quarter.

JOAD  Bronze Olympians

JOAD Silver Olympians

JOAD Gold Olympians

C = Compound          R= Recurve              B= Barebow

Geun Woo Kim- R

Austin Marshall- C

James Vaccaro- R

Kyley Kordick- C

Anthony Phillips- C

Dyaln Danko- C

Ethan Cilley- R

James Vaccaro- R

Haley Sackman- R

Annabel Wood- R

Andrew Park- R

Jackson Mirich- R

Ethan Geisser- C

Micheal Plummer- R

Andrew Park- R

Charlotte Best- R

Trevor Quarry- R

Micheal Plummer- R

Dana Baird- R

Evan Falk- C

Brian Bullis Jr.- R

Lance Mercer- C

Matthew Nock- C

Ryan Kitts- C

Trevor Quarry- R

Anna Scarbrough- C

Everett Nishimura- R

Austin Ayres- C

Alex Trentham- C

Anna Scarbrough- C

Alexander Tolle- C

Dylan Oblander- R

Devin Oblander- R

Evan Falk- C

Tyler Levanduski- R

Ashlyn Merritt- C

Anne Falk- C

Kent Nitta- R

Elliot Bekker- R

Sarah Boyd- R

Trenton Cowles- R

Kent Nitta- R

Leo Varos- C

Brayden Westphal- C

Jack Williams- R

Matthew Nock- C

Jessica Cliett- C

Tyler King- R

Mikayla Lewandowski -C

Jeremy Brake- C

Bryan Ramirez- C

Anna Scarbrough -C

Megan Rivera- C

Daniel O'Connor- C

Trenton Cowles- R

Geun Woo Kim- R

Geun Woo Kim- R

Grace Higgins- C

Hayley Hosey- C

Thomas McCarty- C

Madison Woolsey- C

Savannah Butler- C

Cassandra Harvey- C

Robert Thorpe Jr.- C

Tyler Heritage- C

Lyuba Cummings- C

Hunter Kirkwood- C

Waylon Hjerpe- R

Charlie Dault- C

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