On target

Zoie Thompson, a rising sophomore at Waseca Junior and Senior High School, recently competed in two national qualifier tournaments in archery - the Outdoor Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) Nationals in Alabama from July 20-24 and the Buckeye Classic in Ohio from July 29-31. Following these tournaments, Thompson is ranked eighth in the nation among the 149 archers in her class. Competitive archery is classed by age, gender, and the type of bow used. Thompson competes in Cadet Women’s Compound shooting, which she says can include 50-60 girls at large competitions. Thompson holds 26 state-wide records and one worldwide record: shooting 149 out of 150 in a competition called the “15 Arrow Match.”

Unfortunately, Thompson’s national ranking wasn’t enough to qualify for Team USA in 2023 – an honor which she enjoyed after ranking fourth at last year’s qualifiers. She believed she could have done better – two weeks on the road and disruptions due to COVID-19 interfered. “Archery is ninety percent mental,” Thompson explained. Inability to focus can be a huge detriment – to the degree that Thompson has a coach whose role is almost exclusively helping her train her mental game. This coach works with Thompson on calming tools, such as focusing on form and feeling instead of scoring. When things go right? “I feel like the world is shut off around me,” Thompson explains, her eyes closed, exuding warmth.

Her recent shortfall doesn’t mean the end of the season, however. Thompson will shoot at two more competitions this August. In Ramsey, she’ll shoot at the North Star Open & Voyager Cup, which is the State JOAD competition, and then at the First Dakota Classic and National Field Archery Association Outdoor Target Nationals in Yankton, South Dakota. Following these competitions, she will take a short break before beginning her indoor season. In the spring of 2023 Thompson will be participating in tryouts for the Youth World Team which, if she earns her spot, would take her to Ireland next July.

Thompson works hard to go as far as she does. She’ll be meeting with her level five USA coach soon to update her training schedule, but shoots four to five times each week in addition to two to three strength training sessions. As compared to competing, Thompson does not find practice particularly enjoyable. “She thrives on competition,” says her mother, Stacy Thompson. Practice is typically done alone, but even when others are there shooting Thompson doesn’t feel truly tested. So few archers in our area shoot at Thompson’s level of skill, she says she often doesn’t feel truly challenged until she’s competing nationally. “I don’t really feel pressure that often,” Thompson observed regarding high level competitions. “I get nervous sometimes, but not really pressured.” She has also been a member of the North Central Elite Archers for four years. NCEA is an archery team with approximately fifty members from around the nation – and one from Denmark – which offers members four yearly camps where they work with five national coaches. 

The amount of time this 15-year-old spends on archery means she misses opportunities at school and leisure time with friends. “Archery comes first, over everything,” Thompson emphasizes. She does maintain strong grades, typically earning As and Bs in school. Her first year of high school was harder than middle school, she admits, but she shows no signs of letting up. With all of her dedication and success, Thompson doesn’t believe she has a special talent. “It’s 100% skill: All of it comes from practice,” she says. As to why she dedicates that time and effort into archery? “I fell in love with it.”

Thompson began archery when she was seven years old. She’d wanted a Nerf Rebel bow, but her grandfather bought her a toy boy with real arrows. Since it had pointed arrows her dad took her to Waseca’s archery club to use it. The club told her she couldn’t use a toy at their site, but she still got to shoot using a borrowed bow. The love Thompson has for the sport came instantly, she says. She shot with the borrowed bow for several months before receiving her first compound bow that Easter. The winter she turned nine, Thompson began competing. That year, she remembers winning second place at a state competition. Thompson attended the Vegas Shoot in Las Vegas, known as the world’s most prestigious indoor archery competition, for the first time at age 11 and has gone every year since, except in 2021 when it was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not every memory Thompson has of archery is positive, of course. She recalls shooting at a competition among friends around the age of eleven, when the girl in charge of scorekeeping gave herself extra points and docked Thompson unfairly. Thompson signed off on the scorecard without reading it fully and didn’t realize the discrepancy until it was submitted. The experience taught her to pay attention to detail, which Thompson says sometimes drives her to perfectionism.

In addition to her intensive personal training, Thompson also helps teach. She holds a Level 1 USA Instruction certification, which allows her to help lead beginners’ classes in the winter, despite being only 15 years old herself. Thompson smiles when she talks about this aspect of her sportsmanship experiences. “I like to share my knowledge with the younger ones,” she says.

Thompson works hard, but it would be impossible to go as far as she does at her age without the support of her parents. “I feel like her dad and I are willing to support her, get her to the tournaments, get her equipment, her training – as long as she puts in her time,” says Stacy. Few would consider this unfair given how quickly these expenses can pile up. Why do they do it? In addition to supporting their daughter’s passion, “We think she has a talent, and a future.”