Jewel Blakey’s lofty goal as a competitive archer is to return to nationals and win another national title before graduating from high school.
“I’d like to go back to nationals and have another win under my belt,” Jewel said.
She has her junior and senior years ahead of her to compete. While she’s trying to reach that goal, she’ll be sharing what she knows by mentoring younger archers.
Jewell was an eighth-grader when she won the National Archery in Schools Program’s 3D National Championship with a 291 and finished second in Bullseye with a 294. Two years earlier, she was third among all middle schoolers as a sixth-grader at the prestigious tournament’s 3D National Championship and runner-up in Bullseye.
She took up the sport after transferring from Southfield School in Shreveport to Calvary Baptist Academy, also in Shreveport. The fifth-grader learned about the academy’s archery program and decided joining could help her make new friends. Her parents encouraged her.
The daughter of Clint and Jennifer Blakey has a younger sister who’s also involved in competitive archery. Landry Blakey, who turns 12 in July, is following in her older sister’s footsteps as she enters the seventh grade at Calvary Baptist Academy. Jewel is one of a handful of “student coaches” helping the school’s younger archers, including Landry. The others are Lizzy Cantrel, Brodee Anderson and Colton McPhearson, son of the school’s head archery coach, Dale McPhearson.
Archery’s mental game
Jewell said the reason behind any of her success to date is practice, lots of practice, in school, outside of school, weekends. She puts in the time.
For example, she said on May 26, six days after the last day of classes at CBA, “I was practicing for three hours this morning, practicing with my compound.”
Over the past few years, the 16-year-old said she has worked to improve the mental part of sending an arrow on a line to the intended target whether it’s a bullseye or a 3D animal.
“I’ve had to work on that a lot. Right now, I think that’s the strongest part,” she said about her game, because it involves each step from stance to release.
Jewel admitted she’s been firing too soon, rushing her shots, particularly over the past 1 ½ years.
“I’m definitely going to spend more time and work on slower shots,” she said.
Going into her junior year, Jewel has proven to be just as committed to academic excellence as she is to archery. The honor roll student recently landed on an Academic All-State Team. Plus, the student/athlete’s mom pointed out proudly, the archer will have an associate’s degree from Bossier Parish Community College before mid-May in 2027.
Jewel’s equipment
Jewel had just a short wait before her first tournament following her final day as a high school sophomore. The Blakeys were scheduled to travel to South Dakota for USA Archery 3D Nationals and a USA Archery Field Nationals tournament starting June 4 in Yankston.
“I’ll also shoot a lot of local stuff and some local ASA tournaments,” she said about her summer plans.
For Archery in Louisiana Schools (ALAS) and National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) competition, Jewel shoots a Genesis Bow. However, compound bows are required for other tournaments hosted by, among others, USA Archery, Archery Shooters Association and National Field Archery Association, and her model of choice is a Mathews Title Bow (54-pound). She shoots Easton arrows with the Genesis and Victory arrows with the Mathews.
Jewel credited her coaches, past and present, including her dad, who helps coach at CBA, McPhearson and compound bow coach Adam Guggisberg in Houston.
After high school, Jewel said she would be interested in continuing her archery career by representing a college program.
