adults down range on the 70 and 90 meter
line. You'll notice that after everyone else has put up their bows and are
taking down targets, Michael Barber is still on the shooting line. The other
kids (and adults!) gather round to watch Michael shoot and dream of being as
good an archer as he. At the last JOAD meet, the crowd cheered as Michael
shot his Outdoor Olympian and Silver Olympian in back-to-back JOAD rounds.
Michael shoots in the cadet division and this year placed first in the
NAA JOAD Nationals and 3rd in the NAA JOAD Indoor Nationals Nationals and he
also took the Gold at the Vegas World Archery Festival.
Michael started shooting when he was 6 years old and now that he's 15 he
realizes that helping younger archers is a responsibility that he gladly
shoulders. "I had archers to look up to and help me when I first started
shooting. They're all grown and out of JOAD now but it made a difference for
me to be able to shoot with someone better than me. It made me better and it
was nice that older kids paid attention to me. So now I'm in that 'big
brother role' and my younger teammates are important to me."
Michael is a role model off the field as well. He's a 9th grade honor
student with a GPA over 4.0 and is an accomplished musician and plays in the
Union Grove High symphonic and marching bands. When Michael isn't shooting
you'll likely find him playing the flute, piccolo or guitar and
participating in Beta Club events.
When asked what his hardest task has been in archery, Michael replies,
"Getting my mental game together has been the hardest thing to do." As with
most young teens, Michael found that he was easily distracted and sometimes
more interested in what was happening behind him off the line than what was
happening to his shots on the line. "I have it together now and the
improvement in my shot execution is way noticeable. My scores are up too."
Michael's coaching and support team include his coach Genadi (Andy)
Podobed, Michael Muchia, Rick Walker, and his mom and dad, Mary and Doug
Barber. "Andy has really helped me a lot. I couldn't have a better coach.
Mr. Mike got me on my mental game plan and straightened me out there. Our
JOAD Director, Rick Walker has also been a great help. He goes out of his
way sometimes to keep the field open late for me, orders my equipment and
encourages me every day. My dad loves archery as much as I do and I'm sure
my mom has made sacrifices so that I can travel to all the tournaments. I'm
really lucky to have a great archery family behind me."
Michael shoots a Win & Win exFeel bow and has a 30-inch draw length and
pulls 44 pounds. His immediate archery goals are to make the Junior World
Team and win an outdoor national. Michael plans to attend a university "that
offers an aerospace engineering degree, has a school band and for sure has
an archery program."
Michael says meeting new people and traveling to national tournaments is
great fun and a wonderful experience. "One of the most fun things about
archery is meeting new people at the nationals and then hanging out with
them the next year too." Michael's advice to young and new archers is to
"Set goals and stick to them, go for them and try to reach them. It's hard
work but it's worth it and it makes you feel good about yourself when you
achieve your goals."
You can wish Michael luck with the Junior World trials by sending him an
