SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Hyundai Archery World Cup Salt Lake City concluded yesterday after a long week of intense competition in hot and sunny Utah. The event would not have been possible without the dozens of incredible volunteers who worked tireless hours to greet athletes, supply water, serve food, run scores, and countless other tasks.
The U.S. team was especially taken with one volunteer, Ben Douville, of Denver, Colorado, who took time off of his military job to volunteer his time at the World Cup event.
"I submitted an application about a month ago and it was approved, but money is super tight right now so I wasn't going to go," shared Douville. "I was talking to my buddy in North Carolina and he was like 'you're going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don't go because archery is life,' so essentially, I got off work at 11pm on Tuesday, went home, fell asleep at 1, woke up at 4:30, drove out here, worked all day, slept in my truck, and came back again the next day to keep going."
Douville worked for two days of competition running scorecards and scoring tablets to and from the targets between each end and spent time with the U.S. team. Quite taken with Douville's dedication, Reo Wilde took one of his uniform shirts, had the whole team autograph it, and presented it to Douville on the field.
On the experience, Douville shared: "It was life changing, 100%, this is the coolest archery related thing I've ever done. I'm so excited I got to come here, the whole U.S. team has been so welcoming of me and being able to run scores for the U.S. team both days, was the icing on the cake. Thank you all so much for having me, this is crazy."
The U.S. team members shared the comfort of shooting on home turf for a World Cup when you are surrounded by support and cheering fans. When those fans go above and beyond and support the team and the event by volunteering, it is a great reminder of the passion that ties us all to this sport.
Highlights of the Salt Lake World Cup will air tonight on NBCSN from 7-9pm ET.
< Back to All News
