Contemplating the Katniss Everdeen Effect on Archery
Katniss Everdeen may be shaping the face of Olympic Sports. The New York Times contemplates if 2012 will be archery’s big year, all thanks to Katniss and ‘The Hunger Games‘.
And archers may have Katniss Everdeen, the fictitious protagonist of “The Hunger Games,” to thank for the buzz. But it’s still unclear if or how the popularity of the books and film will translate into deep interest in the sport…
Competitors in the sport say they’re not sick of the “Hunger Games” comparisons, questions or trend stories.
“I think it has translated to more involvement, especially for young girls,” Jennifer Nichols, an archer training for the London Games said. “I think it has opened up a sport that may not have even considered before until they saw a young woman on the screen or in the book and thought about it for the first time. And I’m hoping that they realize that it’s something that would be really fun and that girls can actually be really good at it.”
The hope is that the pipeline is being filled with the Olympic hopefuls of tomorrow.
“I think we have yet to see the fruit of all of that since the movie is so young,” Nichols said. “We haven’t seen as much yet. But we’re hearing, especially with the junior clubs, that they’re having an explosion in attendance.”
Often seen sporting a bow and a batch of arrows on her side, Nichols said she still isn’t tired of the inevitable Katniss comparisons. She said she liked the movie.
“Some of them just ask if I’m able to relate with Katniss, if she was my inspiration,” Nichols said. “But this started way before Katniss was involved for me.”
She has an answer already prepared for the first half of that question.
“I say a little bit,” she said. “It’s just I don’t shoot anything that’s alive. I aim at a colorful target and that’s it.”
To read the full article, head here!
Has Katniss gotten you interested in archery? Do you think we’ll see a spike in the sport at the Olympic Games?
source NY Times
I would totally try it, if I weren’t so lazy..
I’ve done archery before and it’s actually really fun . I did it with my friend and we played a “who can hit the target and who can pull and arrow first” game. I won, not to brag or anything…
My dad actually wants to take me for archery lessons now! When he brought it up I was like “are you serious?!?!? Yes!!!!!!”
I do archery and I LOVE it!
my friends call me katniss , because im really good at archery.(please dont ask me who peeta is ) . i wish it was the oranginal peeta , but nnoo >:(
my friends call me katniss , because im really good at archery.(please dont ask me who peeta is ) . i wish it was the oranginal peeta.
@Katniss Mellark
Same!
I do archery too! My name is not katniss but my dad always calls me that. My friend does to and I call her glimmer.