ITAA Athlete Spotlight – Adam Valera

Welcome to the ITAA Athlete Spotlight!

Every few months, we will shine the spotlight on a fellow ITAA member.  Whether they have performed well in a competition, supported the organization, or are just really, really good looking, this is a member you should get to know.

This time, we’ve got Adam Valera.  Adam is a member of the JOAD Regional Dream Team and a nationally ranked recurve archer.  Whether he’s practicing at Mission JOAD, or training in Korea, Adam has picked up some great abilities along the way!

Adam Valera

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  1. What’s your favorite style of archery to shoot?

My favorite style of shooting is the Olympic style recurve because it’s very form based and requires a lot of discipline. But I also like how it can’t truly be perfected which gives me a nice feeling whenever I get a good shot in the ten ring.

  1. How did you get started in the sport?

Honestly I have no idea how I got started in the sport haha, but I usually like to say that I didn’t like the color yellow and that it got me enough motivation to start shooting.

  1. What archery accomplishment are you most proud of?

The thing I’m most proud of is my NRS (national ranking system) ranking now which is 8th, which makes the long practice days and struggling feel more important now.

  1. What’s your most embarrassing archery moment?

My most embarrassing archery moment. Umm I’m not really sure what that would be since I usually blank out a lot of stuff. But one moment at Vegas, I was watching the gold medal match and yelled out, “Brady!”, but then everybody in the crowd looked at me. Then again it’s pretty cool to have everybody notice you at a world tournament haha.

  1. Any advice for your fellow archers?

My advice to everybody is to enjoy the moment and to always be humble wherever you go because not everybody can be where you’re standing.