Pastor wins silver archery medal in Senior Olympics

Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Physical therapy lured him back to his passion—archery.
After 28 years as the Ingleside High School band director, Pastor Ronald C. Welborn of First UMC, Cuero, and Rabke UMC, ended his teaching career with multiple shoulder problems.

But his pain proved beneficial.
“I was doing therapy,” Welborn, 60, said, “and some of the exercises I had to do were similar to pulling a bow. I got back into shooting because of the therapy. And today my shoulder is a thousand times better.”
He has continued with archery not only because of its therapeutic nature and health benefits but also because it has given him something to enjoy outside his normal work, Welborn said.
Recently he competed in the Texas Senior Games, known also as the Senior Olympics, and brought home the silver medal, qualifying for the national games this year.
Welborn’s interest in archery began when he was a teenager. He shot the bow and arrow during his high school and college years.
Once he graduated from college and began his teaching career, he stored the bow beneath the bed he shared with his wife, Darlene.
Only on rare occasions would he take out a target and shoot the bow, said his daughter, the Rev. Teresa Welborn, pastor of Lakehills UMC.
The elder Welborn dusted off his bow and began shooting again about six years ago, soon after he and his wife relocated to Cuero.
Darlene and Ron’s children—and grandchildren—surprised him with a custom-made Bob Lee recurve bow for Christmas four years ago. He has been faithfully using it since.
“It was one Christmas where we truly surprised him,” Darlene said. “He was pretty emotional.”
Welborn competed in several laid-back competitions throughout the years and only last year decided to try the senior games, which were in Austin.
“Competing gave me a target to aim at,” Welborn said with a soft chuckle. “I’m using a play on words. But when I had a goal in front of me, it made me get out and train a little bit.
“Just knowing I was going to compete pushed me to make sure I was shooting on a regular basis and preparing myself physically.”
At the senior games, archers compete against others of similar age who use the same shooting style.
Welborn said he shoots “Robin Hood style.”
His type of shooting, known as traditional, has fewer competitors. That’s because most archers use compound bows or bows with sights attached to them.
In his division, archers shot 30 arrows at 60 yards, 30 at 50 yards and 30 at 40 yards. The closer an arrow hits to the bulls-eye, the more points a competitor accrues.
Welborn said his goal was to shoot a 500. He ended the games with a 557.
“My main goal was to show up and not totally embarrass myself,” he said. “The archers who show up and shoot—some of them are serious, but, as a general rule, it’s a lighthearted group of people.
“One of the things that was really inspiring to me was seeing competitors on the line who are a whole lot more senior than I am. They were still active in competing, and that made me believe I could be active in, say, another 10 years.”
Welborn said he isn’t sure whether he will compete in the national games, which are staged every two years and draw competitors from 49 of the 50 states.
The 2007 competition will be in Kentucky.
He said, however, that he would definitely continue shooting.
“There’s a peacefulness about it,” he said. “And there’s also the physical exercise. It’s good for the shoulders and the heart and the joints. It’s a low-impact workout that’s also a great mental and stress relief.
“I believe strongly in this wholeness and wellness thing that we’re about. I think it’s really good for pastors to find a hobby that has a physical aspect to it—something that is totally unrelated to their work. I’m glad I picked this back up.”
His daughter, Teresa, said, “I think this is great for him. As much as we clergy love our professions, we have to have things outside of that to relieve stress.”
The elder Welborn said he believes his ministry has expanded since he picked archery back up.
He remembers shooting in a Georgetown tournament in November 2005, when he met many other archers. He became known as the “Reverend” there.
He practices regularly at the Vic-toria archery lanes. About a year ago, he said he ran into a man who had questions about religion. Welborn sat with him, and the two men talked for several hours.
“This has put me in a whole other world with a whole other group of people,” Welborn said.