Focused. Quiet. Slowly drawing back the arrow, aiming at the center of the target. That’s the thrill of archery that junior Tony Lam grew to love the most.

“I just focus on form and having a good shot,” Lam said. “After, I’ll go back and listen to music so I can just chill and clear my mind until I have to shoot again.”

Originally, Lam had started off with swimming and diving but due to an injury, he was led to discover the art of archery.

“I broke my leg and had to stop diving,” Lam said. “I always had a fascination with the Robin Hood stories growing up, so after my leg healed, I got into compound archery for fun, but wanted to transition into competition, so I picked up the Olympic recurve bow.”

For around 7 months, he has consistently been practicing but it has come with some issues of time along the way.

“I have school work and it’s an outside sport,” Lam said. “Due to this, it gives me fewer days to practice. While the days I do practice, I’m at the archery range from opening to close.” 

With the few days he does have to practice, he makes sure to take full advantage of the time given.

“It starts with putting together my bow, then 10-20 minutes of stretching,” Lam said. “After that, I sight in and shoot for 2-5 hour practicing form with like 2-3 breaks where I just snack.”

In his archery career so far, he has shot first in his division for his SYWATS, which is an acronym for tournament called Shoot Your Way Through Texas.