Ryan Fischer/The Herald-Dispatch | Alexandria Christian, 11, of Elkview Middle and Adam Workman, 11, of Marlington Middle drew back their arrows during the 8th annual Elkview Middle School Archery Tournament on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at the Chris Cline Athletic Complex in Huntington.
By: Fred Pace | Posted: Feb. 4, 2018 | Source: Herald-Dispatch view additional photos here
HUNTINGTON – Thanks to movies like “The Hunger Games,” participation in youth archery has increased each year at the annual Elkview Middle School Archery Tournament, which was held at Marshall University this year.
“I want to be as good of an archer as Katniss is in ‘The Hunger Games’ movies,” Marra Tharp, an 11-year-old student at Moundsville Middle School, said in reference to one of the movie series’ main characters, Katniss Everdeen, who is known for her archery skills. “This is my first year in the tournament, and I have been practicing since the summer to be ready for this tournament.”
This year, nearly 1,400 archers, representing elementary, middle and high school teams, took part in the two-day event that started Friday.
“Over the past eight years, our tournament has grown from seven teams the first year to 65 teams this year,” according to event organizer and Elkview Middle School athletic director and archery coach Eddie Gray. “When you compare that to the first tournament in 2010 when only 100 archers participated to the nearly 1,400 this year, you can really see how this sport continues to grow in popularity with our youth.”
Nathan Lilly coaches the archery team at Moundsville Middle School in Marshall County, West Virginia.
“We have about 100 archers participating in this tournament,” Lilly said. “We have just as many girls participating as we do boys. I am sure ‘The Hunger Games’ movies have helped getting young girls interested in this sport.”
This was the first year the tournament took place at the Chris Cline Athletic Complex at Marshall University in Huntington.
“In 2016, our school was flooded, along with Herbert Hoover High School,” Gray explained. “We are unable to host our event at our school this year due to the Herbert Hoover High School portables in our parking lot, which limits access to our school for large events.”
Gray thanked Marshall’s athletic director Mike Hamrick and Marshall University for their generosity in allowing them to hold the annual tournament at the Chris Cline Athletic Complex.
“We believe this helps Huntington with thousands of people coming from as far away as Wheeling, Petersburg and Marlinton to participate,” Gray said. “Some of the high school participants may even choose to go to Marshall after seeing how nice the campus is as well as all the attractions in the Huntington area.”
Tyson Compton, president of the Cabell-Huntington Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the tournament results in a lot of dollars being infused into the local economy.
“These kids and their families will be staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants, buying gas here,” Compton said.
“The main purpose of our organization is to bring events, whether it’s sporting or small meetings, to Cabell County, so we gave our full support to Mike Hamrick and his team when he brought this prospect to us. Mike has worked diligently to create these excellent facilities on campus, and he has worked just as hard to bring … area sporting events to them,” he said.
Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said the event is not just about providing an economic boost to the local economy.
“It’s also about introducing young people and their families from across West Virginia to Marshall University and to the city of Huntington,” Williams said.
Hamrick said he was glad to welcome all of the archers and their families to Marshall University.
“I am excited about the prospect that they could one day be students at Marshall University,” Hamrick said.
The awards ceremonies took place following the tournament. The tournament also gave away a Yeti package and raffled several other items, officials said.
Follow reporter Fred Pace at Facebook.com/FredPaceHD and via Twitter @FredPaceHD.
