2018 Doinker SoCal Showdown USAT qualifier by the numbers. 94 Cadet Females registered. Ages 15-17 years old. Cut to the top 64 girls to start elimination brackets at 32nd, then the 16th, the 8th, Quarter, Semis and Finals.
We have been doing this archery thing going on 7 years. I thought I had it down and knew what to sorta expect at our first USAT event. Boy was I wrong. The level of seriousness is extremely high in the Cadets! There is national ranking and national team positions on the line. All the while Gabi was there to gain valuable experience and to be competitive.
On qualification day Gabi started off well and as the day progressed so did the winds. Her scores were showing the effects. She stuck with it and stayed consistent but below her averages. At the end of qualifiers she was wiped out. Mentally and physically weather and the pressure of completion takes it toll.
First question she asked is “did I make the cut!?” I replied you are way above the cut seated 25th out of 94. Top 64 move on to eliminations. I could see it in her body language she was unhappy with her days results so we talked about it. I had to remind her of her age – 12, her inexperience with wind, that she was 25th over many other great athletes who all wanted it just as bad as her. After putting it into perspective she cheered up. Yes she could have shot better. Yes she was below averages but it is what she did and EVERYONE struggled and shot in the same conditions.
Today was eliminations. The goal to make it past the first round of 32. Everything went as planned and she retired her opponent – 3 and out. I could see she had that smile of accomplishment, knowing she had just did something great. The start of the 1/16th went well and she selected her arrows after the warmups. This time consistency and luck were not with her and she went 3 and out to a very talented archer who ranked 8th in qualifiers.
I would guess no parent wants to see their child athlete be retired, eliminated or loose but I can tell you the feeling I had when she completed here first USAT tournament was such a huge win!
Thank you to Coach Rob (Karin Nelson Cook) for standing behind her! Thank you to Next Step Archery and TheNock Point for all you guys do! Thank you Faith Cook and Erin White for being fantastic teammates and friends with Gabi! Even thought you guys had your own tournament to shoot you always find ways to check in with her.
