Archery champion aims for the Olympics
Drawing back the string, Kayla DeBord carefully aims at a target more than 50 feet away in the distance with her recurve bow, the only kind permitted in the Olympics and used in competitive events.
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
In 2006, Kayla DeBord placed second out of 17 competitors to earn a trip to the Junior World Outdoor Championship in Mexico.
She placed 12th in the world out of 66 competitors in her division in the competition ...
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
In 2006, Kayla DeBord placed second out of 17 competitors to earn a trip to the Junior World Outdoor Championship in Mexico.
She placed 12th in the world out of 66 competitors in her division in the competition in Mexico.
In 2009, she competed internationally again in Poland and Utah.
When 9-year-old Kayla DeBord went to 4-H archery practice to watch her brother, she had no intention of picking up a bow and arrow.
"Then, sure enough, all the dads were like, 'Oh, you can do it,'" Kayla said. "They were giving me a hard time because I was just there as a spectator."
She gave in, and to her surprise she did pretty well.
That was nine years ago. Today, the 18-year-old Goliad High School senior competes internationally and has her eye on becoming a participant in an Olympiad.
"I never thought I'd be this competitive," Kayla said. "I never thought I'd have the skill to compete internationally."
But Staten Holmes of San Antonio, one of Kayla's coaches, said he saw the potential in her at an early age.
"I remember watching her when she was just a little thing," he said. "I couldn't believe how well she shot. She was putting them in the middle."
Kayla said the high point of her career has been competing internationally because she had to earn her place on the teams by showing she could shoot well.
The first tryout that landed her on a team for international competition was in Colorado in 2006, when she placed second out of 17 competitors in her division. That earned her a trip to the Junior World Outdoor Championship in the Mexican Yucatan, where she placed 12th in the world out of 66 competitors in her division.
That was followed in 2009 by international competition in Poland and Utah.
Kayla literally took a shot in 2007 at making the Olympics. The results were heartbreaking for her on one hand, but rewarding on the other.
"The top 16 archers got to move on to the next leg, which would be shot in California," she said. "I was 17th."
She was down about it for a while, but then she realized that just being good enough to compete with some of the best archers in the world was a prize in itself.
"To shoot in the Olympics for archery, you can't get any higher," she said. "What an experience."
A typical day for Kayla starts at 6:30 or 7 a.m. when she gets up and prepares for class in Goliad, where she is ranked fifth in her class of 110. After school, it's off to work from 2 to 5 p.m. at Ag-Med Supply Co. before heading home to homework and archery practice.
Kayla's mom, Denise, said she worries a little about her daughter stretching herself too thin at times.
"But she seems to handle it OK," Denise said. "She is organized, and I think she knows her limits."
School comes first, and if she's not making her grades, then she doesn't need to be involved with archery, Denise said. It's a rule Denise and husband Mike have stood by over the years.
And it has apparently been incentive enough. Kayla has been on the honor roll and made all A's starting in junior high.
Denise said the sport can be an expensive one, especially with the travel involved. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars.
"I started keeping track and then I decided I didn't want to do that anymore," she said. "But you know what? I wouldn't trade it for the world."
There is no way to put a return on that investment, Denise said.
They have traveled as a family to states and countries they would never have seen otherwise. They also met people and made friends throughout the United States.
"And we did it as a family," Denise said. "We had family time."
Taking part in archery has been a learning and growing experience for a shy Kayla, who had a fear of flying. She has overcome those fears and even traveled without her parents to compete in Venezuela, where her group may have been the only English-speaking group.
"She has a very quiet confidence about her, and she is very intelligent in years beyond her age as far as understanding things," Holmes said.
Kayla plans to attend Texas A&M University in College Station and take classes that will allow her to become a pharmacist, like mentor Holmes, who is also an Aggie and pharmacist. While the school doesn't have an archery team that competes on an intercollegiate basis, it does have an archery club Kayla intends to join.
She said she already knows many of the members and coaches from previous competitions and they are awaiting her arrival.
While college might put a hold on plans to try out for the 2012 Olympics, Kayla said getting there is still a long-range goal.
Holmes said he has confidence she can do it.
"I think Kayla DeBord can accomplish anything she wants if she puts her mind to it," he said. "She is truly a bright star and it's really inspiring to see young adults like that."
And to think it all started with a shy 9-year-old country girl who was goaded into shooting a bow and arrow.
"It's funny how things worked out," she said.
