One of Mercy’s largest club activities, the archery team, is gearing up for their spring season starting in March. With around 60 girls participating from all grades at Mercy, it’s a no-tryout, no-cut sport, available for anyone to join.

The archery team holds several one hour long practices a week, but there is no minimum requirement for attendance, so flexibility is a key factor in many girls’ decisions to join.

Junior Sophia Agrusa has been a part of the Mercy Archery team since her freshman year and definitely recommends it to anyone interested in a low stress, yet still enjoyable after-school activity.

“I tried it for fun freshman year,” Agrusa said. “I ended up having a really good time so I decided to keep doing it.”

The girls practice at the Riley Archery Range in Heritage Park, a large open air archery range that offers several shooting lanes at distances of 10-30 yards.

Agrusa also says archery is perfect for people who really have never tried it before, since almost everyone is just learning too. Mercy athletics partners up with the Michigan High School Archery Association and USA Archery to develop the team and girls get to experience coaching by USA level 1 and 2 instructors. All equipment needed to participate is provided, as well as a team shirt for a fee of $150.

Near the end of every season, the team participates in a tournament with other Michigan schools in May in Southeast Michigan. Last year’s tournament took place in St. Clair Shores and Agrusa says it was a great way to wrap up the season.

The team hopes to bring in more members this upcoming season, and Agrusa says she would definitely recommend joining to anyone considering it, no matter the experience or talent level.

“It’s pretty much like an hour a week to just hang out with some friends, and it’s great because it’s not as stressful compared to most Mercy sports,” Argusa said.