Photo by Jim Walker, San Diego Archers

By USA Archery

Elizabeth ‘Ellie’ Howe is a 17-year-old from California who only began competing in archery less than three years ago but in that short space of time, the sport has transformed her life to such an extent that she felt compelled to give back.

“I had a conversation with my mom driving home from practice one day and we were talking about how long it took – at the time it was like almost an hour each way,” Ellie said.

But what began as a conversation to fill the journey time back from practice grew into something nobody in the Howe family expected, as Ellie set about planning for an archery range closer to home.

Two years on and after a creating a hefty project proposal document, gathering names for a petition, working with the local council to find land, delivering speeches to politicians and businesspeople to get funding, the barebow archer from San Diego now has a journey time of around 15 minutes to an archery range she fought to have built.

“It's been really cool to get to go down there and meet a bunch of people who I don't know,” Ellie added. “I've got to hear a lot from people who are like, ‘yeah, I used to love archery. And then because of my work and stuff like that, going to practice no longer works in my schedule.’

“An hour commute for me, especially at the time, wasn't un-doable, but I knew quite a few people for who it was, or who were cut off from practicing outside because of the commute.

“So, it's been awesome to get to see people who were able to reintroduce themselves to the sport, with others able to get into the sport for the first time.”

The heavy lift needed to commit to such a project was made even tougher because Ellie was as far removed from her comfort zone as she could imagine. A freshman in high school at the beginning of the project, talking to anyone – never mind those who needed convincing to support such an idea – was a struggle for the teenager.

“It was really intimidating at first to the point where when it first came up, I'm like, ‘oh, no, I could never do that.’ And then I thought about it for about five more minutes, saying, ‘oh, you know what, let's just try.’

“I attend an online high school, so some of the first presentations I gave to a larger group were actually at board meetings, pitching a project.”

It was, in fact, archery which helped Ellie overcome her reservations. She took up the sport just prior to the COVID pandemic – choosing archery as an activity at a camp over the card game Uno, because her brothers wanted to try it. Ellie then stopped when the pandemic hit in 2020, only returning in August of 2022 and heading to her first competition in the December of that year.

Ellie’s first outdoor event was the 2023 Easton Foundations SoCal Showdown, at which she defeated Francesca Benavidez 6-4 to claim gold in barebow U18 women (pictured). Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, winning gold in barebow U18 women at the 2024 AAE Arizona Cup to taking silver in the senior division a year later. Most recently she was top seed after qualification at SoCal Showdown, finishing with bronze.

She explained, “In general archery's been a really big thing that's pushed me outside of my comfort zone. There's definitely a big difference from when I started archery to now.

“My first class at my range, I was literally standing in the corner the entire class. I'd go shoot and then comeback and not talk to anyone. That was probably six months before this project!”

Ellie got to work with her local county supervisor, as well as with their outreach manager and the Parks & Recreation Department, enjoying incredible support along the way.

“There was a lot of community support and that's the big thing. The goal was to show it's not just one kid who doesn't want to drive an hour to get to practice, that there are more people who are into it, and that it is a central part of our local community. So that was a big part of it.”

It took a village to bring this project to life, but it was the brainchild of a teenage archer, who had the drive and determination, spurred on by her passion for the sport which changed her life, to get out there and make people care about it as much as she did.

Proud mom Sarah commented, “She blows me away. I have no expectations anymore because she's above and beyond exceeded everything that I could hope for.

“And it's funny because this is an incredible achievement and it's been incredible to watch this come from a silly conversation in the car to speaking at the grand opening in May.

“I'm not gonna lie, the first time she shot at the new range, I was tearing up.”

Sarah also pin-pointed archery as being the catalyst to the confidence shown by Ellie in even beginning the project.

“From that little girl standing in the corner behind her bow, to giving a speech in front of a large group of people without really flinching. It was just a very proud mama moment and watching her come into herself through this.

“And to be able to take it from an idea to going to different municipalities and standing in front of their board and asking them to take it on. It was pretty crazy.”

The Archery Range at Kumeyaay Valley in East County, San Diego is a 10-bale range, with target distances from 10 to 70 meters. A key aspect of the design for Ellie was that the range was accessible to all, both physically and financially. Being municipality-owned, the range is free and there are compacted paths to all the distances.

Ellie Howe grew with her new-found confidence, having emerged from her shell while shooting. She has blossomed as a young woman and found her voice.

“There is a really cool community that archery has – not just in barebow, but in general. The archery community is incredible.

“That was a huge part for me, just how supportive everyone was and how much it was a very non-judgmental setting where I could just go through my shot process and simultaneously start to inch outside my comfort zone. It kind of gave me a space to grow.”

Few people can say they were the mind behind such a community project. Fewer still while still navigating high school. Talking of high school, Ellie has a 4.74 GPA, (3.94 unweighted), is ranked first in her class and will graduate with two associate degrees!

From that car conversation to a grand opening, it has been something of a whirlwind the last few years for the Howe family, with Ellie growing as a person as she grew into the sport she loves.

Mom Sarah smiled as she said, “She does well in school and all of that, but archery has connected with her in such a special way. It has kind of unlocked this confidence in her.

“And we now have this whole different person. It's been quite a journey to watch, as a parent. I've just been holding on for dear life. She's been steering the ship this whole time.”