By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    When 12-year-old Emily Taylor, of South Portland, returned from Girl Scout camp last summer, she never had any conversations with her parents about archery. So her mother, Anne Marie Taylor, not surprisingly, was a little taken aback when her daughter later asked for a bow and arrow for Christmas.
    “I had no idea what was involved in archery and you could go to Wal-mart and buy a toy bow and arrow or you could go to L.L. Bean or those places and buy a bow and arrow,” Taylor said with a laugh. “My husband and I decided we would take her to an archery place first and see if it was something that she really wanted to do and then go from there.”
    Since her first day on a real archery range in January, Emily Taylor has been hooked on the sport. She has competed in eight competitions and, within her age group, has racked up three state championships and five first place trophies. Last weekend, she placed second in her age group, known as Cubs, during the Maine State Championship, held at Lakeside Archery Pro Shop in North Yarmouth.
Taylor said her talent for the ancient sport seemed to come naturally.
    “I’d never tried it before and I thought it was something different so I just really wanted to try it,”she said of picking up a bow while at camp. “If you find a place that has a coach, it’s a lot easier and it’s a lot of fun.”
    Steve Dunsmoor, one of Taylor’s coaches and the owner of Lakeside Archery, said out of the 28 participants in his JOAD classes, Taylor is in the top three.
    Dunsmoor started shooting more than 20 years ago and is one of two National Archery Association Level IV National Coaches in New England.
    “She has a passion for archery,” Dunsmoor said. “Her dedication, her drive, it’s something that she’s obviously interested in. It’s a very disciplined sport and some of my better students have had a background in martial arts. You have to be very precise and consistent.”  
    While she doesn’t have any martial arts training, Taylor is active in several other sports including track, soccer and horseback riding. When she is not honing her athletic skills, Taylor enjoys raising sheep for the 4-H Club and volunteering at a soup kitchen, all while staying on the high honor roll.
    If inspiration strikes in her down time, Taylor can go out to her backyard and practice hitting a target from a distance of 18 yards. She also trains two days a week at Lakeside Archery.
    On Wednesdays, Taylor trains with the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program (JOAD). JOAD, a program of the National Archery Association, is open to youth between the ages of 8 and 18. According to the National Archery Association Web site, the program offers training and skill development for youth who wish to compete in local and regional competitions. Participants who train with compound bows can try out for a spot on a youth world team and youth who use recurve bows can try out for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Archery team.   
    “You set goals for what you want to get for a score,” Taylor said of the class. “There’s different levels – you can go from a qualified archer to a gold Olympian, which is a perfect score and every class you get the chance to move up another level by getting a certain score.”
    Taylor uses a compound bow, which her mother said can cost around $350. Compound bows, with wheels on each end, tend to be more accurate than a recurve bow that has ends that bend away from the archer.     
    Taylor’s training has progressed from the traditional brightly colored, circle targets to 3-D targets. The 3-D targets, made out of foam, are fashioned to be life size representations of animals such as, deers, bears, lions and turkeys.
    Taylor said there are two small rings on the foam animals’ bodies that are worth 11 points. The next largest ring is worth 10 points and the largest ring is worth eight points. A shot elsewhere on the body is worth five points.
    During a competition, such as last weekend’s state championship, participants follow a field course through the woods, stopping at 30 different shooting stations, said Dunsmoor.   
    As Dunsmoor said he insists his students have fun, Taylor has also had the opportunity to do several trick shots.
    Dunsmoor said trick shots include popping a balloon suspended from a hula hoop that is spinning on a turntable, shooting the flame off a candle and a William Tell scenario involving a foam head, a Halloween mask and an apple.
    “Most of the kids Emily’s age are pretty young and if they don’t enjoy themselves they probably won’t stick with it,” he said.
    Taylor said she’s dedicated to the sport. Although there are few other girls in her training classes, she doesn’t feel intimidated. Instead, she is more concerned about improving her skills.
    “The kid that got first-he’s really good,” she said, referring to the latest competition. “He beat me by 20 points and he’s gotten pretty much the same score every time and it’s really high. You put pressure on yourself to try and beat them.”