Rev. Bro. Bancha Saenghiran and Selene’s medal
Brother President supports students to excel in sports
Brother President encourages students to concentrate on both academic and sports achievements
Selene Vate-U-Lan’s Archery
Studying and gaining qualifications is essential. But having interests apart from studying is important as well. Take for example one of Assumption University’s students, Selene Vate-U-Lan, who is a 1st-year university student in the Faculty of Biotechnology majoring in Food Technology, enjoys studying at Assumption University, Huamak Campus and practicing archery in the evening at the National Archery Association of Thailand, Sports Authority of Thailand. All students at Assumption University can access the world class sports complex at Suvarnabhumi Campus. Selene found that the university is offering one of the best environments not only for high quality academics but also for being a complete person who is healthy by playing sports.
Selene Vate-U-Lan’s Archery
Studying and gaining qualifications is essential. But having interests apart from studying is important as well. Take for example one of Assumption University’s students, Selene Vate-U-Lan, who is a 1st-year university student in the Faculty of Biotechnology majoring in Food Technology, enjoys studying at Assumption University, Huamak Campus and practicing archery in the evening at the National Archery Association of Thailand, Sports Authority of Thailand.
All students at Assumption University can access the world class sports complex at Suvarnabhumi Campus. Selene found that the university is offering one of the best environments not only for high quality academics but also for being a complete person who is healthy by playing sports.
In the Navy Archery Open 9th on 27-29 November 2020 at Sattahip, Rayong Province, Selene won a bronze medal in the Thailand Higher Education Tournament. This joined a national competition organized by the Royal Thai Navy in conjunction with elite international archery organizations. 314 Thai Athletes and 34 teams participated in this national tournament. The purpose of this national annual archery game or the Navy Archery Open are as follows.
(1) To conduct tournaments to determine national championships in all archery games adopted by the National Archery Association of Thailand and to provide sanctions for tournaments.
(2) To evolve and conduct programs that will give recognition to archers for proficiency with the bow and arrow in all sanctioned competition.
(3) To foster and perpetuate a spirit of good fellowship and sportsmanship among all archers.
(4) To foster, expand, promote and perpetuate the practice of field archery and any other archery games.
(5) To conduct a continuous educational program designed to acquaint the public and the archer with the use of the bow as a recreation and world class sport.
(6) To cooperate with other archery associations to foster and perpetuate the use of the bow in accordance with its ancient and honorable traditions.
Currently, Selene is one of the scholarship students at Assumption University. Her achievement in sports was shining while studying in secondary school as she participated in the 800 metres running. She won the gold medal in the female 800 metres each year, 2017-2018. This inspired her to choose Assumption University at the undergraduate level since Assumption University offers the world class facility at the sport complex, Suvarnabhumi Campus.
This is Selene’s first medal in a prestigious competition after participating in just two matches at the national championship level. She started to practice more during COVID-19 self-quarantine. This is a good news story at a time when this pandemic has caused loss and devastation across the globe. Selene has started to be an archer by being a member of the National Archery Association of Thailand. As a girl in archery class, she always offers a helping hand for the coach. She is under the supervision of Chief Petty Officer First Class Denchai Thepna. He is a Thai National Archer who won many medals from Southeast Asian Games and other International Games.
An endless line of Thai archery athletes
Rationales to choose archery as a favorite sport
Selene noticed several excellent benefits that have made her a better archer, and improved her life outside of archery as well. The benefits of archery can make such a big impact, and knowing what those are could help people enjoy archery even more.
Relaxing and enjoyable
With all the focus needed and different aspects of archery to keep in mind, it may seem like archery could be a stressful sport. It is exactly the opposite. One of Selene’s favorite things to do on a day off is to go out in the backyard and lose some arrows. This benefit is recognized immediately after Selene starts with archery. Not to mention the cheers and laughter if she is out shooting with a group.
Great way to exercise
Selene would like to confirm that archery is an excellent form of exercise, not only for the strength building reasons as mentioned earlier. Most archers agree, archery is a physically demanding sport and a great workout. Competition level archers will sometimes walk far distances carrying a lot of weight. This burns a lot of calories and can get into better shape than you think.
Strengthens muscles
Selene found that when drawing the bow back she activates her hands, shoulders, chest, and arms. Shel started to notice muscle development after doing this repetitive motion over and over again. Soon, pulling the string of the bow back becomes easier and easier. Usually an archer will have to hold the string back for a little while to get sighted into the target before taking the shot. All of this activity builds muscle over time. Her core muscles will also strengthen.
Builds confidence to new levels
Archery will help athletes to build confidence as a progress and become better at the sport. This is especially true for Selene, and increasingly important for healthy development. In practice, it takes the time needed to see skills improve to build up the confidence levels. This is one of the harder parts with kids, getting them to stick with it long enough to see improvements. This has not really been an issue for Selene because so far she loves to go out and shoot the bow, whether they hit the target or not.
Archery improves patience levels
According to Selene’s experience, archery is more about patience, precision, and accuracy than it is about speed. She naturally learns to be more patient as she realizes it takes time to make a precise and accurate shot. Learning patients varies from person to person, but Selene found that practice daily will help her become an archer.
Improved focus after training
When practicing archery there are many things to think about while shooting. The form, the target, and the bow to name a few. The ideal archer needs to perfect the ability to block out distractions and focus all their attention on the shot. Selene feels more focused after a round of target shooting.
Improved safety awareness
When Selene goes shooting safety is number one. Being aware of the area, what is in front of or behind the target, and where a bow is facing are all important safety rules that must be implemented. It helps give her a sense of safety first which can be carried over into other aspects of life. In theory, archery can be a dangerous sport if people do not have a safety system set in place. It will teach an athlete to respect the equipment and be responsible with others around.
Hand eye coordination improves
Practicing archery involves using hand and eye coordination every time you lose an arrow. That is, every time to fire at the target. You need to focus on the target, switching the focus between the target and the sight until you shoot. This involves large amounts of coordination and practice to get good at. Over time of shooting, Selene will start to aim better and hit the target more accurately as hand eye coordination improves.
Improved social skills
This has been a great unexpected benefit for the archers. They will have to learn to wait their turn and communicate with one another. This is also a great benefit for adults as well. Call up some friends and invite them out to shoot in a team. It will be always a fun time and no one ever leaves disappointed.
Archery is a challenging sport needing expensive equipment and dedicated practice. With added support and saving the pennies to buy the necessary equipment, Selene is considered to have the potential to progress as a national athlete at the South East Asian Games in February 2021 and maybe the Olympic Games in July 2021. These possibilities represent a giant leap, but Selene just aims to give it her best, and that is a great approach, as well as motivating.
Best of luck Selene, and congratulations.