The first time she held a bow, Baya King (9) knew archery was her passion. King learned how to shoot at a very young age. Over the years, she kept working at the sport and eventually found herself getting better and better, and began competing. King had her hardships, but she also had many personal victories.
“Ever since, I think I was six or something when I first started, my dad would take me out in the backyard and every summer we would go out every night and shoot,” King said. “I seriously started getting on a team in eighth grade. I’m now at an actual, good facility where I can go throughout high school and into college.”
When she started archery, she found her peace in the art of being able to compete against herself. Although she liked the thrill of the competition, she liked it more when it was just her and the bow.
“I like collaborating with people, but also it’s something you compete against yourself, really,” King said. “I’m better when I work alone and I can fix my own things that I need to work on. It’s also just like a lot of self reflection on what you need to do to get in the process. Your bow and everything is personalized to you so no one else can do it the same as you, I like that a lot. I like how I can compete against myself without worrying about where other people are at.”
Although King was fully confident in her abilities, there were days when she had to remind herself to take things slow. Her biggest competitor was not the other people, but rather the ticking of the clock.
“I always remind myself to slow down because I have a bad habit of not taking my time. So I once even put a little note in my pocket saying to slow down,” King said.
King quickly learned that there were some pieces of advice worth listening to and some that would not be as useful. She figured that she needed to take every tip and trick with a grain of salt, so as not to get lost or confused during practices and competitions.
“You have to be careful what tips you listen to because a lot of people shoot very differently because there are different bows and there are different techniques,” King said. “You kinda have to learn what to listen to and what to tune out.”
King said that the best piece of advice she ever received was to stay patient. Her close friend Abby Rozzoni (9) was able to agree with King and could even share some of her own experiences.
“I want to relate to something she said earlier because I’m on the golf team, and that’s slowing down,” Rozzoni said. “I always just get up to the ball and swing. I don’t breathe and take my time, so I really relate to that.”
Rozzoni and King were always fond of each other. They met during a dance class in 2015 and had been friends ever since, but they made a deeper connection during the beginning of their freshman year.
“She’s an amazing human and I love her so much. Just having someone who is there for me means a lot because I have a support system to go to,” Rozzoni said.
King and Rozzoni were not the only ones involved in King’s story. Her mother, Christine King, was a large part of helping King get to where she wanted to be.
“It makes me really happy that she has found a sport,” Christine said. “She has tried a lot of different things, which I’ve always encouraged my kids to try different activities and so she’s done a good job of that. I feel like she’s found something that she’s passionate about. She loves going to practices and really just trying to improve herself.”
Christine did not know much about archery when King first began, but she knew she wanted to support her daughter in following her passion.
“I did not have any influence. I knew nothing about archery,” Christine said. “So it is kind of neat when your kids follow different paths because you learn new things. I’m also learning through her.”
Though King had many ups and downs throughout her archery career, the support and encouragement she received helped build her confidence and gave her the motivation to keep shooting.
“What I look forward to the most is her getting excited when she does really well because I can tell it’s a confidence boost for her,” Christine said. “Or when she has something changed on her bow and goes to use it again and she gets excited when she does well. I get excited to see her successes.”
