Archery is a sport where space is key, without space or with very little, danger increases towards both archers and people who are watching. When space is limited it can affect both the archers and the entire setting of the program. Students are closer together so they are not able to have as great a focus on their shooting. Even when they were in the gym space was limited at times because everyone would try to get some extra practice in.

The Green Building is filled with BO and thick heavy air from all the sports that go in there. Wrestling, Baseball, Softball, gym classes, and other sports, and it seems that even with those teams there isn’t enough room to do many activities.

Talking with various archery players who have been on the team the previous years they also have some worries about how this season will go. While most have the same views, there are a few that believe this will not affect the archery team. Cole Murphy, a senior on the team, has been doing archery for a good part of his life, he’s been on the Lafayette team since he was in the eighth grade. “Those who try to be better this year will succeed, and those who don’t and let this building get in the way, and will not be as good. We shouldn’t let a building get in the way of how we shoot.” stated Cole, he believes that those who truly enjoy the sport will not let this affect how they shoot, and it shouldn’t affect the team especially the new comers.

Other archers on the team who have also been on since they were Freshmen. They feel being in the Green Building, filled with its unknown odors, will have a major effect on the team, especially the new people. Being in that small conformed building will more than likely cause the new coming archers into shock when we have tournaments. The places we shoot during the regular season are gyms in various schools, but once we move to regionals the shooting ranges get larger. The past few years the State and World Archery Tournaments have been in the Fairgrounds Stadium which is in Louisville. It’s a big open space where hundreds of archers are shooting at the same time throughout the building. Ally Smith, a Junior, had to say, “I don’t like us having to move to the Green Building. It’s too small and not enough room for the whole team. The 3D targets can’t fit in the building, and we’re unsure if we’ll be able to even shoot that later in the year. Plus, we lost the atmosphere of the gym which is a big part of it all. I honestly think this season is gonna crash if we can’t find ways around these issues and I highly doubt we will.”

She’s not the only person on the team who is worried about this season, I talked to two other archers about how they felt about the situation. Some of them believe that these are unnecessary security measures and that this affects more than just the archery team but other teams as well.

Jason Bussell, a Senior, “I think it’s stupid that we have to make major adjustments for an unnecessary secruity measures” with the metal detectors in the gym it has affected this schools in various ways. Although these safety measures are not going to go away, it should be brought up that these could permanently affect some areas of the school.

Lula Pike, who is a Junior said, “Practicing in our new small location is honestly going to affect our practice. We have one of the largest sport team at Lafayette and a very small room. I’m really worried that practice is going to be limited this year and we won’t be able to get our full potential. It’s also pretty dangerous because of how small the room is and because we of course, are doing archery. Archery is a sport in which you need room to move around and if we are crowded, it increases the danger of someone walking in the way of an arrow. We are a great team and this has really threatened the future of our team.” What all these teammates have to say, all have similar concerns for how this season will go.

Those who are Seniors this year are affected extremely because this is your last year here as a High Schooler and they deserve to go out with a bang. Granted the chances of us being able to move into a better archery environment are very slim. I hope that for the teams sake, we get through this and that this doesn’t affect their entire season.