COACH ALEX'S COACHING RECORD

I started shooting when I was 12 years old.  For the first year or so, I just learned and practiced sometimes.  I liked going to the archery range, because it was a place where I could just be myself and have a good time.  When I was 14, I went to my first local tournament.  That was when I lived in New York City.  My first coach was Al Lizzio at Big Apple Archery in Queens, who was also the archery coach at Columbia University.   

During the summers when I was 14 and 15, I went for a week to the Olympic Training Centers in Lake Placid and Colorado Springs.  In the summer of 1994, when I was almost 15, I moved to Austin with my parents. Every other day after school, I went to Archery Country to practice indoors; I would practice outdoors on the in-between days. The next summer, Susan and Bill Bleakney (then the owners of Archery Country) asked me if I would like to coach JOAD.  It was my first job, and I did it almost every Saturday or Sunday for 13 years, until February 2008, when I formed Austin JOAD Archers in southwest Austin. I've coached over 1500 kids between the ages of eight and 18.  I also coach middle and high school students in archery, so they can receive PE credit from the Austin School District.

When I was 16, I qualified as a National Archery Association Level 1 Basic Instructor. I like to coach a lot and for many reasons, so when I was 18, I decided to become a Level 2 Instructor. In 2001, as soon as I was 21, I went to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, California, for a week, where I was certified as a USA Archery Level 3 Archery Coach . At that time, I was the youngest Level 3 coach in the country! In November 2008, I passed the Regional Coach test after five days with National USA Archery Coach Kisik Lee at the OTC in Colorado Springs. In February 2009, he appointed me as a USA Archery Junior Dream Team Coach. I will be flying out to Chula Vista each quarter to coach the Junior Dream Team.

I also worked my way up the JOAD patch/star pin levels, just as you are doing.  I earned the Olympian level at 15, the Silver Olympian at 16, and the Gold Olympian at 17.  I have competed in over 70 archery tournaments all over the country, and placed first in my division in many tournaments. (See some of my tournament records below.)  In 1994, before we moved to Austin, I won one of two places in my division on the JOAD team that represented New York City at the Empire State Games in Syracuse, NY.  In 1996, I won 1st place in the ranking round of the JOAD National Outdoor Championship (which was held in Zilker Park in Austin!). That same summer, I set two national records in the Intermediate Division at the National Outdoor Target Championship in Orlando, won the tournament in my division, and got my outdoor Silver Olympian. (What a summer!)  I won a place on the National Junior Olympian Team in 1997, which brought with it an all-expense-paid trip to the JOAD National Outdoor Championship in Boston. Later I shot in the Collegiate Division representing U.T.  In 2001, I was ranked # 17 in the U.S.A. in the adult Men's Recurve Division.  

Before studying Cinematography at UT Austin, I received my Associate Degree in Photography in December 2000, from Austin Community College. Besides being a professional photographer, I am a partner in a multi-disciplinary marketing and design consultancy company called Ideations, Inc. http://www.ideationsinc.com/ , and I also own a web-hosting company.

As your coach, I'd like you to know that no matter what you're experiencing, I have probably experienced the same thing at one time or another.  I had fun shooting, and then struggled to learn how to shoot better.  I scared myself when I started to succeed.  Later I almost quit, because of the pressure I put on myself.  Sometimes, I thought getting to be a better archer was taking forever.  I've felt how great it is to be at the top of one division, and then go to near the bottom of the next age group's division. Finally, I learned (again) how to have fun shooting.  One thing I know for sure:  Archery teaches you a lot, especially about yourself!

You can talk with me about anything.  It's my job to help you learn how to shoot your personal best, so I try to coach each of you individually when you are in my classes.  Sometimes, it gets pretty crowded, so if you need more help than I am giving you, just say, "Hey, Alex, can you come here, and help me, please!"  I'm your coach, which means I understand where you are, and where you can go with your archery.