Archery hitting a pop culture bull’s-eye

Tessa Engen lifts her bow, her arm pulling back on its string.

Standing tall, she steadies herself and takes aim. The swish of the arrow leaving the bow echoes across the field, followed by a solid thump as it meets the target.

It was a quiet scene among the archers at the Iowa State Archery Association's State Target Competition June 3, certainly calmer than what moviegoers have seen on the big screen recently. No one was running through the woods clutching a bow or leaping from a Manhattan skyscraper as their last arrow hits an alien spaceship.

“Archery requires a lot of concentration,” says Tessa, 14 of Central City. “You really need to focus.”

Archery has been the focus of several recent blockbusters, from Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” to Hawkeye in “The Avengers.” Kristen Stewart is the latest actress to wield the bow-and-arrow as her weapon of choice in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” continuing Hollywood's fascination with the sport - and the spotlight won't dim anytime soon.

A princess archer will star in Pixar's “Brave,” which opens June 22, followed by an elf archer in December's “The Hobbit.” The second movie in “The Hunger Games” trilogy will be released in 2013.

And don't forget the Summer Olympic Games in London. Archery is expected to get more attention than ever, as sales of archery equipment increased more than 20 percent in the past year, according to the Archery Trade Association.

“I see a lot more girls buying bows because they want to be like Katniss,” says Michael Mohr, 12, of Long Grove.

For those already involved in the sport, the newfound interest is welcome.

“It has, at the very least, caused more people to notice the sport and ask questions,” says Diana Deaton, president of the Iowa State Archery Association.

Most of this interest is conversational, but Deaton experienced some active involvement at the National Field Archery Association World Archery Festival in February.

“ ... there was a great crowd just watching all of the final events and cheering on favorites to win,” she said. “It was just exciting to be there.”

Archery was a new addition to the Springville school district's middle and high school physical education program this year, thanks to a grant from the National Archery in the Schools Program.

Joe Martin, Springville's physical education and health teacher for the secondary schools, said pop culture didn't influence the district's decision, but it did spark student interest.

“Throughout the unit I heard students referring to things from ‘The Hunger Games' and ‘Brave,' which seemed to get more students interested in both the stories and archery,” Martin says.

The district will offer an archery club next year.

The Central City school district's archery club started three years ago, which is how Tessa first got involved in the sport.

“A lot of my friends were doing it, so I thought I'd try,” she says.

She's now a member of the Wapsi Warriers, a Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) program.

JOAD is part of USA Archery, a non-profit organization that sponsors National, International and Olympic teams. It is open to anyone ages 8 to 20. Tessa's younger bother, Trystan Engen, joined Wapsi Warriers last year.

“It's fun to just go out and shoot,” Trystan, 9, says. “We you do everything right, and you hit your target, it's exciting.”

Carl Mally, vice president of the Waltonian Archers of Linn County, says archery usually sees an increase in interest from the public when movies, books or TV shows feature the sport.

“We're always encouraging of that,” Mally says. “Archery is a lifetime sport for men and women at any age.”