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Second annual Archery Tag Competition draws large variety of students

Five students in the archery event hold up their bows with foam-tipped arrows
Photo by Brandon Lebaron

As foam-tipped arrows sailed over the Soccer Field on Feb. 22, students competed in co-ed groups of five to see who would come out on top of the second annual Archery Tag Competition. The event, hosted by Seasider Sports & Activities, involved friendly competition, food and music. The winners were Team Manapua.

Each team took turns competing against others by placing arrows in the middle of the playing field, and, on the blow of a whistle, each player would run to get as many arrows as they could for their team. After doing so, the members would use their bows to try to get their opponents while navigating around the obstacles that the other team could use to hide or block the arrow.

Raihau Gariki, a senior from Tahiti majoring in TESOL, shared why she decided to take part in the archery activity. Gariki said, “I saw the flyer and thought it would be fun, and my friend did it last year and loved it and told me to come.” She went on to discuss what it was like trying it for the first time. “It was hard to figure out how to shoot the arrow at first, but I was able to get the hang of it after the first try and really enjoyed it.”

Hunter Jensen, a senior from California majoring in exercise and sports science, was in charge of the event. As to why they decided to host it again this year, Jensen shared, “Last year was a great turn out. We really like this event because even though we do sports like basketball, soccer, and rugby, this one draws a larger crowd. We feel like we get a larger variety of students from different cultures and different backgrounds and it allows more people to be involved.”

Irene Tawa, a freshman from New Zealand double majoring in hospitality and tourism management and Pacific Island studies, commented how she decided to take part in the archery event. “I wanted to get out of the comfort zone of saying ‘sports aren't for me.’ I like games that are not like regular games but are out of the ordinary.”

Gariki added she would recommend other students to participate in this event in the future. She shared, “It is free, and it is not an activity you can do every day. It is something new to try and is just so much fun.”

Khristian Alfoja, a junior from the Philippines majoring in psychology and social work, shared his reason for participating in the archery event. He said, “My friend invited me because it was my birthday, and they wanted me to come here and have fun.”

Jensen shared he would also recommend students to come in the future to this event. He said, “We just want students to have fun and feel like they have a chance to come out and do something. We want them to meet new people. We want to be like the lifeline of the campus by having students be able to meet new people and hang out with their friends and get away from some of the stressful things they have going on.”

Tawa went on to discuss how she particularly enjoyed “the teamwork, communication and a bit of adrenaline that was felt.”

Alfoja also said students should attend events like this because “the activities the school offers are really fun, especially on weekends, because Laie is far from other things. You get to meet people from different countries.”