Al Marconi Competes in the State Archers of California and Wilderness Golden State JOAD 2024 California State Indoor Target Archery Championships
World Archery and USA Archery Sanctioned Event
State Indoor Dates: Friday January 5th thru Sunday January 7th, 2024
Al Marconi is a United States Army and Navy Veteran who served from 1962 to 1968 and 1978 to 1991. In the spring of 2006, he was struck by a hit-and-run motorist while riding his bicycle. He remained in a coma for twenty-two days following the accident. As a result, his prognosis was that of a wheelchair-bound Veteran. He resolved that he would find a way to regain as many of his former physical capabilities as possible; plunging himself into the rehabilitative techniques that were offered by the Physical Therapists at the VA Medical Center in Loma Linda.
One day, while watching a Robin Hood movie and manipulating his stretch bands, he noticed that the archers in the movie were using the same body movements that he was. He realized that he had stumbled upon a way to adopt the exercises that he was learning to develop a Personal Rehabilitation Program. Upon discharge from the VA Medical Center, he rented an apartment with a backyard big enough to accommodate a small archery range. Within a year, he noticed that his physical abilities had improved to the point where he was able to become a volunteer at the VA hospital. He has thus far accrued over 21,700 hours assisting the staff of the Chaplain Services and VA Recreation Therapists.
Since then, Al has worked tirelessly to improve his mobility and archery skills. Last week, he competed in the State Archers of California and Wilderness Golden State JOAD 2024 California State Indoor Target Archery Championships. He spent several months preparing for the event, averaging four (4) hours a day, four (4) days a week shooting, of which a quarter of that time was spent getting out of his shooting chair and retrieving the arrows.
During the tournament he shot four (4), three (3) hour sessions over a two (2) day period. Each day, participants shot three hours, took a fifteen (15) minute break, and continued to the next three (3) hour session on each of the two (2) days. The reason that it took so long is that it was a three-arrow shoot. In a three-arrow shoot, three (3) arrows are released and then the archers make their way to the targets, mark their scores, and return to the shooting line and repeat the process forty times during the two-day period.
The total distance walked was sixteen hundred (1600) yards.
In Marconi’s words, “While competing at the event and winning a medal is an awesome feeling, being able to get up out of my shooting chair and retrieve my arrows unassisted for over three-quarters of the tournament was a feeling of accomplishment that I will not soon forget. It stands as moot testimony to the benefits of the adaptive sport of Archery. I am so grateful for the sponsorship that I have received, and I intend to continue my participation in competition. Someday, I ‘ll be able to walk the outdoor SIX-ARROW FIFTY (50) meter tournaments that require walking 100 one-hundred yards each time that you retrieve your arrows and return to the shooting line.”
Al’s amazing determination and perseverance is an awe-inspiring reminder of what we are capable of accomplish if we willing to put in the work.
Written by Al Marconi and Kristina Chase
