Phoenix Brophy Prep archery one of Arizona’s top programs

PHOENIX – The room is quiet enough to hear breath.

The archery program at Brophy College Prep may not draw the crowds of the school’s traditional sports, but the Broncos have quietly built one of the state’s most competitive teams.

Over the past decade, the program has produced state championships, annual podium finishes and a growing community of athletes drawn to one of the school’s most unique sports.

There are no marching bands. No roaring student section. Just the soft creak of tension and the sharp thud of arrows hitting their mark.

It doesn’t look like the traditional image of high school athletics.

At Brophy, it is a tightly bonded team on campus.

Over the past decade, Brophy’s archery program has grown from a student interest into one of the school’s most consistent competitors at the state level.

“At Brophy College Prep, we try to provide opportunities for all of our students in a variety of disciplines,” sports information director Steve Staff said. “Archery is one of the programs that developed over the last 10 years as something our students were interested in. It’s a club sport here at our school, but we treat our club sports just like we would treat our AIA sports.”

What began as a club experiment is now a championship-caliber team built not just on accuracy, but on access, leadership and brotherhood.

In Arizona, archery has deeper roots than many realize.

Long before Brophy’s basement range became a proving ground, the state was already a quiet hub for competitive shooting.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department operates one of the largest publicly accessible shooting complexes in the country at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in north Phoenix, a year-round destination that hosts local, state and national tournaments.

At the collegiate level, Arizona State University once fielded one of the most dominant archery programs in the nation.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, ASU’s archers won dozens of national intercollegiate championships in men’s, women’s and mixed-team divisions, producing Olympians and elevating the sport’s profile in the Valley.

Though the program no longer competes at the varsity level, its legacy remains a cornerstone of Arizona archery history.

Today, much of the sport’s growth flows through youth pipelines like the Archery in the Schools Program, which has expanded across Arizona campuses and introduced thousands of students to the range for the first time.

Brophy’s rise fits squarely within that broader state movement.

Since its inception, the program has won state championships and consistently competed for both team and individual titles.

For a no-cut sport operating outside the traditional varsity spotlight, that level of success is rare.

Brophy’s archery team has not only competed, it has dominated.

The Broncos captured three straight Arizona NASP state championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023. It is a remarkable run for a program that only began in 2019 and continues to grow its identity and roster each season.

“The Broncos and our coaches have done a great job of elevating the program immediately and competing at a high level,” Staff said.

The program’s foundation was laid six years ago by Scott Waggy and Lisa Fisher, with current coach Jason Svedin helping guide its evolution.

Svedin, who also serves as Brophy’s science department chair, believes the sport’s staying power reflects something deeper about the school itself.

“I think it’s the school’s willingness to let students try new things and new avenues of practice,” Svedin said. “Whether it’s archery or rowing or chess club or robotics, the school gives a lot of different options for students. That usually brings students who are interested in archery or who have never done it, find an interest in it and gives them a spot to be.”

That phrase – “a spot” – defines much of what the program has become.

For senior TC Collum, archery was less about sport and more about belonging.

“As a freshman, I came into Brophy not really knowing anybody,” Collum said. “I was really in search of a team and a community to be a part of.”

Each year, Brophy hosts an experiential archery event where students can shoot for the first time. It’s no-cut. It’s flexible. It’s open.

“That was my opportunity to shoot my first arrows,” Collum said. “I remember shooting a 10, a bull’s-eye, during that first practice, and I was like, ‘Wow, I must be really good at this.’ And I kind of stuck with it.”

What began as curiosity evolved into commitment. Over four years, Collum grew into a team captain and into a different kind of competitor.

“Archery is a pretty niche sport,” he said. “People are often like, ‘Whoa, you do archery?’ But Brophy has a big sports culture in general. Just being part of a sport opens certain doors for you.”

Yet Collum’s leadership has focused less on visibility and more on inclusion.

“I think the way that I’ve learned to lead this sport, opening it up to people, making it more accessible financially, making it a more diverse team, that’s shaped my leadership skills,” he said. “Being able to see people and build empathy for them.”

Svedin sees that growth as the true scoreboard.

“First and foremost, it’s how they grow as a team and start to develop as a unit,” Svedin said. “But my favorite thing to see is personal bests being shot at local shoots.”

Sophomore Mason Hutchison came to Brophy already familiar with archery through hunting. When he learned there was a team on campus, the decision felt natural.

“I really enjoy hunting,” Hutchison said. “So I did archery for hunting before I came to Brophy. I heard there was an archery team here, and I figured I’d check it out.”

What he found was a community and mentorship that would serve him well into the future.

“Coach is a great guy. He’s really smart,” Hutchison said. “It’s been wonderful to have him walk me through archery and teach me a bunch of new stuff.”

Now, with experience under his belt and a state runner-up finish behind the team, Hutchison’s ambitions are clear.

“I’m really hoping we win the state this year,” he said. “I think it’s possible.”

Svedin shares that vision carefully.

“Well, first and foremost, I want it to be a place where students can come and have fun and enjoy the sport,” he said. “Second, I would like to see us be more competitive at the regional level, with a goal of being more competitive at the state level. That’s a long-term goal, but it’s one we can shoot for.”

For Collum, the target has shifted. Earlier in his career, he admits he felt pressure to live up to the seniors who came before him.

“I have had many idols on this team come and go,” he said. “I often felt like I needed to live up to them or surpass them. I don’t think that way anymore.”

His focus now is legacy, not medals.

“I would like to take this team to nationals and have us all have that opportunity,” Collum said. “But more than that, I want to leave this team with a sense of brotherhood and community that they can rely on rather than one pillar.”

In a state where archery has produced Olympians, national champions and one of the country’s premier shooting facilities, Brophy’s basement range may seem small.

But in the quiet between draw and release, and in the trust built between teammates, they’ve constructed something just as powerful.

Not just a contender, but a continuation of Arizona’s archery tradition.

A place where anyone at Brophy is welcomed to make their mark.

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