Seawolves nock it true

Archery: Something humanity relied on long ago and seems to be all have been done before; What new things can you really do with a bow and arrow? Not many come to mind. That is until Intramural and Club Sports saw a strange phenomena take place over at UAF’s campus.

They were playing dodgeball like you normally would, but with a twist: The students were using bows and the ‘dodgeball’ was a felt tipped arrow! With new inspiration and valor in hand, they decided to bring this idea to UAA! Backed by Student Life and Leadership, the date was set: Jan 26, 2022 at 6 p.m., at the Seawolf Sports Complex.

The poster they had made garnered a lot of attention from students. When asked why they had come to the event, a general consensus was “Saw the poster, looked fun, looked different.” 

When it was time, there were a lot of people, some experienced, some beginners, and a couple had brought their own bows — a sweet gesture, although rejected for safety issues.

All who participated had to sign a waiver before playing, which some found disconcerting. This isn’t to say there weren't any safety precautions — Intramural and Club Sports supplied face protection, and the bows had very low draw weight, how much you need to pull to fully draw the string.

With the signing away, and a short recap of the rules, the names were announced for the first round! When the players were set to the two sides — bows ready in hand and arrows knocked — they waited eagerly. Suddenly, as if a bang rang out, the announcer released the players into battle!

Chris Panilo, I call him “the Dark Soul” if you will, threw flair and fire into the ring! Not one arrow had hit Panilo this round, their feet too fast and their timing impeccable. Panilo dodged through the field, picking up arrows and shooting others head on! Suffice to say, the crowd went wild.

Indeed, throughout the night style reigned supreme over functionality. We had someone I’ll call  “The Arrow Catcher,” also known as Ian, who lived up to his name by being the first to catch an arrow. Or another I’ll refer to as “The Hunger.” Her aim would always hit true. She was aided by someone I’ll call “the Wind,” fittingly named Ashly Archer, who had a remarkable ability to dodge volleys of arrows, as if you were shooting at the wind. Even rivalries were forged in this, as Archer was faced against another I nicknamed “the Void,” who was like a shadow that always catches up. The game was just a mixing pot of ideas brewing and mutating into new and exciting ways to do something so old, yet so new.

A general consensus however was that they would do this again, but some improvements would be nice.

The first thing would be to get better bows. Many said that it was hard to aim the bows, and getting the arrows on the string was very clumsy. More of a diverse battlefield would be nice, and probably more arrows.

There was also the case of the arrows tips falling off, but staff would run in and collect those arrows. Overall, the event would be worth doing again.