Bullseye
Legends tell of a famous thief whose skill with a bow far
surpassed that of the realm of Nottingham and beyond. This
famous archer went by the name of Robin Hood.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him.
Robin’s archery skills were so sharp that not only was his
arrow able to locate the very center of a target’s bullseye, but
that his second arrow was able to hit the exact same bullseye
of the exact same target, splitting the first arrow in half. The
world loved Robin Hood.
Now travel with Robin Hood hundreds of years in the future
(via cryosleep or time machine. It really doesn’t matter) to
present day America and introduce the famous archer of the
late 14th century to today’s archers and study the man’s
expression. As Robin spectates the skill of the majority of
today’s bow-and-arrow enthusiasts, you might notice his face
to be unchanged as nonchalant thoughts of, “Oh. Yes. I’ve
seen that done before,” and “I could do that with my eyes
closed,” will likely pass through his mind. Not impressed, right?
But suddenly his expression changes from sheer boredom
to complete shock, surprise, and a touch of fear, for this new
archer before him has skills that come close to his own. Maybe
even matches. Maybe even surpasses. One would ask, “Who is
this young archer who would dare to match her skills with that
of the legendary Robin Hood?” to which another would answer,
“Oh. That’s Kali Pavlik. She’s in my math class.”
Although the stories of Robin Hood wallow between the
waters of fact and fiction, the stories of Kali Pavlik are 100%
true. Some years ago, Kali was given a bow from a Scheels
store and decided to attend a father-daughter tournament with
her father, Tom Pavlik, with no intentions of partaking in the
actual event. Once there however, young Kali decided to enter
the tournament anyway because, you know, why not?
“I was really nervous at first,” said Kali. “I was really nervous
22vHERVOICEvMAY/JUNE 2016
because I had never competed before. I went there to watch.”
The end result? She placed first.
Immediately, a desire sparked inside Kali and her love for the
sport of archery became unsurpassable. She started enrolling
in archery classes with a variety of coaches and her skill with
a bow did nothing but improve more and more at an alarming
rate. Archery coach, Eric Tollefson, was among many of the first
to train Kali. “He would tell me I had a talent for it,” she said. “I
think it’s a lot of fun.”
Now, at the age of 17, Kali practices 5 to 6 days out of the
week for two to three hours. Her archery skills surpass most
students her age and she has the medals to prove it. Aside
from obtaining first place at her first tournament, Kali made
the first USA compound Junior Dream Team in 2014. She
has also received both gold and silver medals in the National
State Games of America in 2015 as well as becoming the
2015 Nebraska Grand Champion for the Young Adult Female
Freestyle division (in which she broke the Nebraska state
record for NFFA). Her most recent endeavor was a United States
tournament. “It was about a 20 hour day,” said Tom Pavlik,
Kali’s father. “She arrived at 7:20 in the morning and practiced
until about 6. There were some delays. She was worn out and it
was all very exhausting. She made 6th place out of 20 places. I
was so proud of her.”
“I felt like I tried my hardest,” said Kali. “It was an
exhausting tournament.”
Kali says she takes a break or two after partaking in major
tournaments which allows her to regroup and refresh herself
from all the excitement.
Apart from gaining the satisfaction of winning various
competitions, Kali enjoys the opportunity of traveling to
various parts of the country to compete. She has competed
in several USA team trials in locations including Newberry, FL,