It’s me!
Sutikarn (Aire) Thamthiwat
Traumatic Experience of Why I Quitted the Sport I Love.
Let me start with why I chose archery. As simple as it sounds, I thought archery was incredibly cool, and Hawkeye was my inspiration. Growing up, I was a girl with low physical strength—I couldn’t even open a bottle lid by myself. Frustrated by my weakness, I looked for ways to build my strength, and that’s how I found archery.
I decided to take up compound archery because I was drawn to its sleek, high-tech design. My coach set up everything for me, so I was ready to play, or so I thought. My first challenge came quickly: I couldn’t even lift the bow. For two weeks, all I did was practice lifting it. Watching others enjoy shooting while I struggled was discouraging, but I didn’t give up.
Eventually, I moved on to shooting practice and entered my first competition after just three months of training. Unsurprisingly, I came in last place. I trained hard, like any dedicated athlete, and my efforts paid off when I eventually won a national competition.
So, why did I quit?
After one competition, my left arm started shaking and spraining. I ignored it, driven by my passion, until six months later, the pain forced me to stop. A doctor sidelined me for two years.
Coming back stronger, I started training again and it’s the time for college where I moved to the US and could not bring my bow with me.
However, archery would still be the sport that I like the most and would not forget this valuable journey.