In a rush, arrows are loosed between both teams, aiming for both the tiny targets on opposing sides, as well as players behind cover and braving out in the open. Pro Sports Management owner, Tim Simpson said he’s always liked the newer and more interesting sports there have been to offer and wanted to bring something really exciting to North Bay.
“It’s like paintball without the pain,” Simpson said. “It’s bows and arrows with marshmallow sponges at the end of them and it’s played almost identical to paintball. Nobody that plays it doesn’t love it. We get repeat players all the time and it’s something that when you first hear about it, you don’t quite know what it is. I like the new stuff. I was involved in a lot of traditional sports for a long time and I just wanted new and exciting things that were different. It’s just fun stuff that people can have a good laugh.”
Two teams compete against each other, varying in size for casual play, but finding themselves around a half-dozen players, scrambling for arrows as well as cover, while trying to hit all five of their opposing team’s targets to win—or by tagging all opposing players with arrows.
Simpson said he had bought the license to run this sport in North Bay last year and has run a softer launch since, taking the time to introduce people to the new and relatively exotic sport—but for him, archery tag, like bubble soccer and many other games he’s picked up for Pro Sports Management, it has all been about that fun factor.
“The moment you hear archery you think you have to be able to shoot a bow,” he said. “But this is made for the masses, for people who don’t shoot bows. When we run tournaments and you have archers on a team, they’re really talented. But while they may be really talented at hitting the targets, they’re also really talented at keeping each other away from the targets.”
Simpson also alluded to the challenge of trying to catch an arrow mid-flight—which would take out the player who loosed it and bring back a fellow player onto the field.
Currently, drop-in archery tag usually runs Friday nights and Saturdays, but isn't set in stone yet until Simpson works out more details. He said he was working on setting up leagues for teams wanting to take a shot at being best band of merry archers, but until then, all are welcomed to drop in.
He said 2016 had been a pretty strong year for them, adding Futsal, Youth Dodgeball, Archery Tag, Hungry Human Hippo, Beer Pong, Corporate Event Planning and Winter Ultimate to their offerings. They also added drop-in dodgeball, expanded their gymnasium spaces and added Saturday afternoon events at WJ Fricker.
For more information on archery tag offered by Pro Sports Management, you can visit their Facebook page, website, or email Tim Simpson at [email protected].