BELLA VISTA --A group of residents is working to convince the Bella Vista Property Owner's Association to open an archery range.
Hoss Diego said the push started in July last year when he and others approached the association's recreation committee to request a range.
"There are several hundred people that want an archery range in Bella Vista," he said. "Right now, people are shooting in their backyards."
Diego said it wouldn't cost much and would provide a great deal of utility to hunters who need to practice before archery season starts, as well as for athletes, including student archers.
Schools in the area, including Cooper Elementary, have archery programs, but the space where students can shoot is limited, he said. An outdoor range could help these programs expand, he said.
"These kids are shooting at distances up to 90 meters away with recurve bows with no sights," Diego said.
Ashlee Lunsford, who coaches the archery program at Cooper Elementary, said an outdoor range in Bella Vista could be a huge help for her archery students.
"The biggest benefit that the kids will have is that they will get to practice year-round," she said. "They only get to practice maybe five months out of the school year."
The program is open to second-, third- and fourth-grade students. It's in its sixth year, with more than 300 kids participating, she said.
Old High Middle School also has an archery program, she said.
The archery team influenced 10-year-old Finley Knaup. Her mother, Bella Vista resident Jennifer Knaup, said she opened up after starting archery.
"She's very talkative at home. At school she's always been very quiet, very reserved," Jennifer Knaup said. "She's a totally different kid; it's incredible. Her confidence in herself -- at the age of 10 she understands the importance of the team."
Finley shot at a recent state competition despite being sick because she felt the need to back up her team, Jennifer Knaup said.
Her practice space is extremely limited, Jennifer Knaup said. Finley can either practice at home or at Hook Line & Sinker, which Knaup said can get cramped at times.
Nick Gann, owner of Hook, Line & Sinker, said he estimates there are thousands of people interested in archery in Bella Vista.
"It's not a few hundred, it's a bunch," he said. "When you count all the school kids and all the people who hunt, there are thousands."
Gann said he sells about 380 bows in a typical year and maybe 20 percent of those are repeat buyers. And even in the off-season, he said, his repair rack stays full.
The shop's indoor range sees an estimated 30 to 40 users in a typical week, he said. The space -- particularly the distance -- is limited and many people would like to be able to shoot at 40 to 50 yards, he said.
Sports on 03/19/2019