Many colleges and universities offer collegiate archery programs ranging from clubs to varsity teams, several with scholarship opportunities. For the 2019 season, Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA) gave away millions of dollars in scholarships at the local, regional, state and national events. S3DA archers across the country had the opportunity to compete for the top spot in their respective class and division for the title of “National Champion.” College coaches are not only awarding scholarships to many who make the podium, but they are also on the ranges and field actively recruiting. Marissa Fullard is a prime example of how hard work and dedication to the sport of archery can pay off.
Marissa, who graduated from high school this past spring, got her first bow when she was 10 years old and has been shooting competitively for 5 years. She was an active S3DA student member for 3 years with the Refuge Archery S3DA Club in Maysville, Georgia. When asked how she got involved in archery, she was quick to say that her cousins were on the Jackson County 4-H archery team when she received her first bow, and she decided that she wanted to join the team as well, because she saw how excited they were and how much they loved it.
Marissa says the best part of archery for her is getting out and meeting new people. For every tournament she has been to, she has made new friends and met new people. Marissa said archery has made her a better person, because it has taught her patience to just let your arrow fly and move on. During high school, Marissa shot in the High School Female Fixed Pins class with an Elite Energy 35 bow with an IQ quick-adjust bowsight.
Marissa is an active bowhunter as well. She started bowhunting a few years ago. She has shot one buck with her bow, but is quick to state that she was definitely hooked as that was the most thrilling feeling she has ever had.
“My favorite archery moment would be the first Buck Master’s tournament that I had ever been to," she said. "I shot for Jackson County 4-H, and my team was compiled of K4 Middle School girls. We showed up, got checked in and began to warm-up. During warm-ups, we were on fire, and we shot co-ed at this point. We continued to warm-up and the boys beside of us made a comment about how they did not want to get beat up by a bunch of girls. We did indeed beat the boys. That was a special moment, because it showed us that any girl could go and shoot just as good or better than the boys. Being so focused on shooting better than them, made us focus on shooting better for ourselves.”
Marissa’s favorite discipline is 3-D. She loves being able to go out and shoot all kinds of cool animals that she typically wouldn’t see in everyday life. She said that the 3-D discipline prepares you, if you are interested, for bowhunting.
Marissa officially signed with Emmanuel College and will continue her archery career while receiving her education. She is excited to meet new people and to make more friends. She stated that she was ecstatic when thinking about the medical field and could not wait to see what part of it that she would like the best.
She had been looking at going to Emmanuel for a long time, especially since she really wanted to continue her archery career along with receiving her degree. It was very important for her to go to a school with small classes, because she said that was how she excelled in academics.
About S3DA
Started in December 2012 by the Scholastic Archery Association, S3DA (Scholastic 3-D Archery) has grown tremendously as a next-step program to follow introductory programs offered as part of 4-H or the National Archery in Schools Program. S3DA addresses the need for a program to bridge beginning target archery experience and more advanced activities such as 3-D shooting and bowhunting. The program currently operates across the United States with hundreds of certified coaches serving thousands of young archers, grades 3–12.
For more information, visit www.s3da.org.
