Nocking It Out Of The Park At Iceland’s Archery Club

Who hasn’t at one point dreamt of dramatically pulling back their bowstring and hitting that impossible mark in the far-off distance, much to the adulation of peers and spectators? In my ongoing exploration of Reykjavík’s engaging endeavors against ennui I have set my sights on a terrific new target to pursue that dream! That’s right, I sought out one of Iceland’s sharpest shooters, Heba Róbertsdóttir, who along with the rest of the Icelandic team, brought home a cache of medals from the European Championship in Croatia last month. Eat your heart out Legolas!

Heba and I meet at Bogfimisetrið, the local archery hall where we are fittingly surrounded by rows of targets, some of them with a few extra holes already, and occasionally hear arrows landing with a mighty THWUMP in the background. While still attending school, Heba practices here twice a week and coaches three times a week, passing along the knowledge she has gained in a little over two years. What started with a love for Disney Pixar’s Brave (relatable) turned into an opportunity when Heba discovered the club and picked up the bow herself.
“I like that it’s an individual sport, apart from team matches,” she tells me. “You go at your own pace, it’s all according to you, it’s very much mental. Also, I have a herniated disk in my lower back and couldn’t really practice any other sport like dance, like I used to, so this is also a really good sport for that.”

You kind of have to turn off your thoughts but at the same time while you’re learning something you have to think about what you’re doing, the movement and everything so it becomes ingrained in your autopilot.

It’s also very good to get your brain to shut up for a while, according to Heba. “You kind of have to turn off your thoughts but at the same time while you’re learning something you have to think about what you’re doing, the movement and everything so it becomes ingrained in your autopilot,” she says. “I really like this aspect of shutting off my brain, getting in the groove and not thinking. Although while I’m competing, I tend to get one part of a song that I don’t actually know stuck in my head on loop — it’s annoying but it helps!”

It must have helped last month when Heba and her teammates set out for the European Indoor Archery Championship in Croatia, from whence they brought home five top medals — a gold medal for the U21 Men’s Team, two silver medals for the U21 Women’s Team and Individual, and two bronze medals, one for the U21 Men’s individual and one for the Women’s Team for Compound bows. Who knew the Icelandic archery teams kick so much ass? I certainly hadn’t heard about it through all the football and handball hype that tends to cover the sports news.

“I practice barebow, which is kind of the basic ‘house bow’ you get when you first come here,” Heba explains after giving me a crash course on competition categories. “Then there’s also recurve, like the Olympic recurve, the only bow that’s in the Olympics; and compounds, the bow that’s most like a gun, with weights that release and actual buttons to push to release the string.” An intimidating piece of machinery to be sure, though for now Heba seems content with her weapon of choice. “I got stuck with a barebow. I love it, it fits me.”

Apart from the individual aspect of the sport, Heba also emphasizes the community aspects of practicing an arguably “nerdy” sport together. “We kind of know it as the sport that weird people come to,” she says. “And we’re all weird in our own ways and that kind of gets us together. This is a really good place for kids that maybe don’t quite fit in as much, that want a space where they can do what they like and maybe meet other people with the same interests.”

Heba recalls her own first time coming to Bogfimisetrið as a shy new student. “Vala was teaching and had on these camouflage overalls, standing like a drill sergeant. I was so scared of her — which is funny because she’s so cute — and I ended up thinking, ‘this is scary, but this is fun, I love this!’”

The Grapevine’s On The Fringes series explores Iceland’s less popular (or less celebrated) hobbies, sports or pastimes. Follow along here.