SNOHOMISH — For Zach Young of Snohomish, it was a weekend to remember.
The 15-year-old Snohomish boy was in San Antonio, Texas, last month for his first national archery tournament, the 2011 National 4-H Invitational. And he performed well, finishing seventh for his age group in one event an
d ninth in another.
The competition alone was memorable enough, but unfortunately there was more excitement to come.
Because as Young and his mother were stopped at a restaurant before heading to the airport and a flight home, someone broke into their rental car and stole their luggage and all his archery equipment. The latter was worth around $4,000.
The theft was shocking, in part because “nothing like that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “I’d never had anything stolen.” Moreover, the lost bow was a valued possession. He had paid for it with money earned by doing odd jobs, and then had used it for a year of half in practice and competition.
That bow, he said, “was kind of like my friend.”
As they peered into the empty trunk, “it was hard for me to see the look on his face,” said Kim Young, his mother.
A new bow was ordered, arriving last week, and paid for in part by the family’s homeowners insurance policy. And after four idle weeks — “It’s the longest I’ve gone without shooting for a few years, for sure,” he said — Young is ready to resume his bid to become one of the nation’s top young archers.
He started archery about five years ago through 4-H, “and it seemed easy right from the start,” he said. A former baseball player (he had to quit because of an arm injury), he appreciated that archery “was an individual sport. … I know it’s me if something’s not happening right.”
Young trains outside his home, where he has stepped off the necessary distances to his targets. And he is out there almost every day, weather permitting, up to 15 hours a week.
He is, by his own admission, “a perfectionist when it comes to this. I’ve always been very competitive. I don’t like to lose. I know the more I practice the better I’ll do. And I enjoy practicing because I enjoy doing well.”
“He thinks that if you’re going to do something, you might as well do the best you can,” added his mother. “And whenever he puts his mind to it, he excels. He’s so driven and disciplined.”
Young was the Washington 4-H champion for the senior division (high school) in May, and he was also the top placer among state archers at nationals. His goal is to make the U.S. Youth World team, which goes up to age 18, sometime in the next few years.
To get there, he knows he needs additional coaching. Though Young has been largely self-taught to date, the family is looking at getting him a private coach which should, he said, “make a world of difference.”
The reward for all his work, he said, is the chance to compete at top-level tournaments, and in the coming years that should mean more national and then international events.
“I’m very competitive and I like to win,” he said, “so I like to put in a lot of time and then have the feeling that all my time has paid off.
“I enjoy doing it,” he added. “It’s relaxing. It’s a stress reliever from school. I have my own little world that I can get into.”
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