Every Sunday, the club meets at Demmer Shooting Sports and Education Center on campus for target practice. There, members of the club shoot and learn from those around them while getting to know their peers with similar interests.

"We want it to be somewhere where people can come and let loose from the week," biochemistry sophomore and club treasurer Leland Huber said. "It’s just a place to relax and calm down from the week."

To join the club, members don’t need any prior experience in archery.

"You don’t have to know anything about [archery] to join," zoology sophomore Katy Dernbach said. "There are experienced people here who are good people who are here to help you and teach you."

The goal isn’t just to hone one's archery skills, but to provide a community surrounded by the sport.

"The club is extremely relaxed. You don’t need to come in with any experience, any equipment. We’ll teach you from the ground up. It’s much more like a social club," Leland said.

Many members have spent a majority of their lives competing in or practicing archery. The club allows them to continue on a path they're passionate about while also helping those with less experience.

Mechanical engineering senior Brock Strebeck, who enjoyed archery in the hunting scene before joining the club, saw this opportunity for members of the club.

"It’s more of a team aspect than you’ll ever realize," Strebeck said. "You’re not on your own when you’re here, and have some people cheering you on. You have people who want you to do the best you can and want you to succeed."

Archery is often swept under the rug amongst the vast world of sports. However, members of the archery club believe the sport is misrepresented in the world of sports.

"It’s not all about hunting," Strebech said. "Some people just come here to shoot paper, which can be just as enjoyable as it is for a hunter to go shooting when hunting."

Those unfamiliar with the sport may not see it as challenging, a connotation the club aims to change. 

"There is a stigma surrounding archery," Leland said. "We want people to see it more as a discipline and a place to grow mentally and in practice."

The club has not only succeeded in this goal of providing opportunity for members to improve, but has also made an impact outside of the sport.

"I’ve found a couple friends here," Dernbach said. "It’s a really good way to get out."

Although a club by title, members of the team see it as a family.

"We have a lot of time to talk with each other, maybe at our competitions, at practice or other things like that," Strebeck said. "It gives me a chance to just make some new friends, and sometimes we don’t even have to talk about archery."

At practice, this family-like atmosphere is clearly felt, with rare occurrences of silence or members sitting alone. People of all different backgrounds and experiences gathered together and talked about archery, school, work and life in general.

"My favorite part is just coming together and seeing that there’s people here who share the same interests as you, not just archery," Dernbach said. "I’ve enjoyed just getting along with everyone."

Though not an official MSU athletic team, the club has given students the opportunity to face some of the top talent in the country. 

"I was shooting against a Texas A&M guy, and they have one of the best archery teams in the nation, and I got to actually go head-to-head with one of those guys," Strebeck said.

Resources are limited, members said, but that doesn’t stop the club from pursuing bigger and better things. Strebeck said he's seen this firsthand.

"[Texas A&M] has a school-sponsored team. We have club team, so it’s not the same level," Strebeck said. "We don’t have quite the same facilities, but a lot of us shot very well, and personally, I had their whole team scared that they were going to lose. It really amped me up for that competition."

Competitive in its craft and welcoming in community, the MSU archery club is a safe space for students, archers or not, to meet new friends and maybe gain new a hobby.