Looking for opinions

[Eugene Slagle]

My 8 year old shoots recurve with me every chance I can get but with her swim team, Girls Scouts & what not getting her to shoot a lot from many distances are few & far between.
Granted she's not a bad shot but the longer than 20 yard shots are to be desired although she is trying & I am proud of her for the amount of time I get to spend with her shooting.

Today my lady friend talked to me about maybe going to a State Field Tournament which I wasn't sure if I was going then asked if Erin was going.
I told her maybe but not sure.
She told me that Erin will have to shoot from the 30 yard stake to qualify.
I told her that if Erin wasn't comfortable shooting from that distance I'll let her move up but not worry about any awards.
She said that SHE MUST SHOOT FROM THE 30 YARDS STAKE!!
I told her that if she was going to be a stickler about it then Erin & I will not go.

Being that this is a State shoot & if we did go, should I make my daughter shoot from the required distance or should I just think of keeping it fun for her & encourage her to shoot longer distances when she is ready?

Since Erin was born I've never been really competitive, I shoot to make the best score I can achieve but not really worry about beating anyone else & have focused more on fun than anything else.

[Ragnarok Forge]

You really need to weigh if it is worth going.  You need to abide by the rules of the shoot.  It is a state sanctioned shoot and the rules are important.  Your daughter might be dissapointed if she fails to qualify, then again she might take it in stride.  If it were me, I would take her stump shooting or target shooting somewhere else.  Then take her to the shoot and let her see some of the competition to see if she is interested in participating in future events.

[Ranger B]

If she is going to shoot in the State shoot then she should follow the rules of the shoot. If you just want to go have fun shooting then just go shoot somewhere but not in a tournament with published rules. I think if you tried to shoot without following the rules it would only be a very frustrating weekend for you and your daughter.
Just my .02.

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

If she isn't comfortable shooting at those distances then you will be making archery something that stresses her out, instead of something she loves.  I would rather my boys shot with me because they love to shoot and love our times together, not because they "...MUST SHOOT FROM THE 30 YARDS STAKE!!"

[Eugene Slagle]

Erin loves shoting 3D more so than Field targets but when we go together & it's Field targets she shoots along with me at distances that she can shoot from, like when we were at the S.T.A.R. shoot, she shot sometimes from the actual marker for NFAA & the new Cub or Peewee marker that I think is a VBA thing & even though she got upset for missing a few she had fun doing it.

[K. Mogensen]

I wouldn't force her to do anything she's uncomfortable with. If she is open to trying it, then that's fine.

I can't even shoot at 30 yards...  

[Mudd]

Life is about choices.
 
I'd give her the scoop and let her decide.

I think she'll respect everything about it if it's her decision.

My 2 cents worth

God bless,Mudd

[magnus]

Don't want to set an example that it's ok to break the rules. Just my 2 cents. Like Mudd said "let her decide"
Magnus

[Killdeer]

Ditto.
You can have fun competing, it doesn't have to get all frowny and stressed out. There are more people who DON'T win than there are winners. If they all got depressed and burned their bows, there wouldn't be any more competitions.

Killdeer
I used to live in Locust Grove.  

[s_mcflurry]

You can actually do both:  have her shoot from 30 yards AND not worry about the awards!  She's going to do it eventually and this would be a good learning experience.  If you approach it as "this is going to be a fun thing" instead of "we gotta do well at this thing" then you'll both learn a lot from it.

Give her the choice though.  If she decides not to shoot it, you may want to consider just going together as spectators...a learning experience disguised as a family outing.  It might motivate her to attempt those distances more.

[UnderControl16]

I have to agree with Mudd and mcflurry.

[vtmtnman]

Originally posted by Mudd:
Life is about choices.
 
I'd give her the scoop and let her decide.

I think she'll respect everything about it if it's her decision.

My 2 cents worth

God bless,Mudd

x2

[Eugene Slagle]

Thanx everyone, I'll talk it over With Erin.