MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Steve Leonardi can truly say he has a target audience for his line of work.
Leonardi is an archery expert and United States Olympic Committee-certified Level 2 instructor, which means he can – and does – train potential Olympians in the sport.
You will find him at a course set up on Dry Creek Road on the periphery of Middletown, which on some Sunday afternoons will be abuzz with 40 or so enthusiasts of all ages zeroing in on targets.
“The way this works is it’s open-ended so that everybody can come who wants to,” said Leonardi, who provides the equipment – including Olympic-certified bows.
Participants in his program have ranged from age 5 to 85.
On Aug. 30-31 Leonardi’s course will be the site of a the first-ever Middletown Archery Olympics, which will be a highpoint for his three decades in archery.
“Every year the USOC (U.S. Olympic Committee) sanctions so many shoots that are going to be certified Olympic (trial) events,” said Leonardi. “This year this is one of them. There will be about 150 to 200 people. We are hoping to have two gold medal winners for the shoot.”
No less important, Leonardi is working with young local archers he believes have world-class potential.
“I’ve got two kids right now who are at the point that they are going to start competing at the Junior Olympics,” he said. “If they continue with it and keep growing with it I will help them go and get grants for college through archery.
In order to become a Level 2 certified archery instructor, Leonardi had to meet extensive criteria, including a coaching, professional and a sports science background.
He brings an expertise to archery in which he has been involved since he was a teenager growing up in San Anselmo.
But there’s a lot more that Leonardi incorporates in his program, some of which is not on the archery range.
“I’ve dedicated a lot of my life to helping kids,” he said. “The way I help them is by opening the door for archery. As soon as that opens up I bring in people who have the skills to be able to guide the families.
“I want to develop a program for families who need help and can’t afford it. We have a psychologist on board who donates time and supports families who are having a crisis.”
There is, in itself, something about drawing back a bow and unleashing an arrow that is becalming. The Japanese form of archery – Kyudo – is, in fact, founded on meditative principles. Leonardi, incidentally, intends to add a course for Kyudo.
“I love archery because it’s like a medication,” said Aram Thuesen, who assists with Leonardi‘s program while working toward a Level 1 instructor certificate. “Sometimes I’ll leave work and go to archery for an hour and I’ll forget about everything else.
“Once Steve talked to me about everything he’s doing – like getting into social services – I learned that this guy has put a lot of his own money, heart and time into this.”
Said Leonardi: “There is no negativism at all at our course. If the parents are there I will ask them to leave. I want young people to know that it’s a safe place to be. If they dedicate their time to it, they can have a good time and enjoy it.
“Nobody’s going to criticize or cut them down for doing anything they do there. The only ones who are going to tell them if they’re doing it right or wrong is themselves. The way I teach is to guide them through the process of archery. I can usually get someone shooting in 15 minutes. Accuracy is developed over of a couple of months.”
In the two and a half years Leonardi has operated his program there has been interest in establishing archery in other parts of Lake County.
Leonardi is working through the process of getting a Lakeport archery enthusiast certified and plans to help get that program established.
“I’m also getting closer to getting archery into the Indian community here in the Middletown area,” he said, noting that the early Pomos used spears, not bows and arrows.
He also is planning to upgrade his course, with the assistance of a friend who’s an architect. He wants to add a structure and set up his course for disabled archers.
But all this will requires funding and Leonardi confesses to one frailty: He is not a fundraiser.
“That’s my biggest weakness. It’s easy for me to teach, it’s easy for me to take money out of my own pocket, but it’s hard for me to ask for money from people,” he said.
Would-be contributors or archers can call 707-338-8866, visit Middletown Archery at http://www.middletownarchery.org/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/middletown.archery.ca .
Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .