Our feature series “Inside USA Archery” allows readers to get to know USA Archery staff, take a peek inside some of our big projects and catch a glimpse of daily life on our team. USA Archery, headquartered in Colorado Springs, was formed in 1879 to foster and promote the sport of archery. As the National Governing Body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of archery, we are a member-driven organization and our work towards our mission is driven by strategic plans that keep us on track with specific, measurable goals. Get to know our hard-working team and explore some of the larger projects we’re prioritizing throughout the year.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Membership Services Specialist Sam Bauer began her career with USA Archery in 2018 and is a long-time resident of Colorado Springs, where the USA Archery headquarters is located. Bauer has a degree in Health and Wellness Promotion from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she was also a collegiate cross country and track and field athlete.
In the beginning of her career with USA Archery, Bauer was the SafeSport and Membership Services Coordinator. Since then, Bauer’s position has evolved, and she was recently promoted to Membership Services Specialist in Jan. of this year.
“I’ve worn a bunch of different hats with USA Archery. In addition to providing customer service to members, I have coordinated athlete safety initiatives and provided administrative support to outreach programs such as clubs and collegiate programs, instructor and coach certification. I attend trade shows and other events to promote USA Archery. Most recently, my duties have expanded to grow Para Outreach initiatives.," Bauer said.
As part of her work to grow the Para athlete development pipeline, Bauer administers the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) monthly training allowance program, which USA Archery coordinates in partnership with the VA Office of National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events. Through this program, eligible disabled Veterans who are training as emerging athletes or who are on the USA Archery national team can apply to receive monthly financial assistance for themselves and their dependents. Her work with Para outreach also includes expanding opportunities for Para national classification and increasing para outreach to adaptive sport organizations, disabled youth and military events.
“At the Vegas Shoot last month, I got the opportunity to engage with some of our Para archers, who were so nice and encouraging of my new role, and I’m really looking forward to working with the national team more,” said Bauer. Bauer was assigned to serve as the Team Leader for the upcoming Para Pan American Championships event in Chile this November.
Being a member-driven organization, Bauer’s role is very important to USA Archery. It is her responsibility to make sure our members are well cared for, and she takes that obligation very seriously.
USA Archery utilizes a customer service platform called Zendesk to respond to members’ email inquiries. Bauer responds to the great majority of these messages and averages a resolution time of 5 minutes with a satisfaction rating of 94%.
Bauer describes member services as the most rewarding part of her job: “Providing great customer service to our members and clubs is a gratifying and rewarding experience and I intend to maintain that standard,” Bauer said.
Learn more about USA Archery and its strategic plans.
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