Alumni Spotlight: Scalzo blends passions for archery, riding
1/26/2021 12:00:00 AM | Equestrian, Archery, Varsity Club
Originally from Kenilworth, N.J., former Liberty University archery team member Marissa Scalzo ('14) first heard about the sport through the boys' club at her church and gave it a shot.
"Right from then on, I was hooked," said Scalzo, who helped start a girls' club team at the church. "I love this sport. When I got to college, that's when I started really competing and it was like a fun outlet just to be able to practice it weekly as part of a team."
Scalzo, who started as a broadcast major at Liberty before pursuing her degree in cinematic arts after the Zaki Gordon Center opened in 2012, also arrived during the early years of archery as a Club Sports program. She attended an interest meeting where founding Head Coach Brandon Reyes explained that as long as she had her own equipment, she could compete for the Lady Flames.
"I already had my own bow and arrows and I was like, ‘I'm doing it, I'm all in,' so I jumped in that first semester (Fall 2010)," Scalzo said.
Though Liberty didn't have the 3D and field archery ranges it now practices on at the Liberty Mountain Gun Club, Scalzo learned more about the sport from the Flames' first two head coaches, Reyes from 2010-13 and Drew Arnesen in 2013-14. They brought industry experience to the team from T.R.U. Ball and AXCEL Archery — where Reyes now serves as marketing director under direction from Vice President of manufacturing and production and current Liberty Head Coach Ben Summers ('97) — and Quality Archery Design in Madison Heights, Va., respectively.
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| Scalzo has enjoyed blending her archery and equine skills outdoors. (Photo courtesy of Annelise Sforza) |
"They would bring us as a team to use their practice ranges, so it was kind of fun because we got to connect with the local archery community as well as bringing Liberty's team together," Scalzo said. "I was learning the sport in general and broadening my horizons as an archer."
Scalzo has continued to pursue her passion for the sport, even venturing into coaching.
"In the archery world, as soon as I graduated from Liberty, I upped my USA Archery certification (from Level 1 to Level 2) and started teaching right off the bat," Scalzo said. "I really loved, especially, getting girls and women … and families into the sport. That's something I'm really passionate about."
She particularly enjoys 3D archery, which involves shooting at a variety of animal targets, often in a wooded course.
"That's something that I really loved at Liberty," Scalzo said. "I do like being outdoors (and) there's just something very special about being out in nature and doing archery."
Most recently, she has picked up mounted archery, a unique blend of equestrian riding and shooting.
"I have loved horses ever since I can remember," said Scalzo, who was not part of the equestrian team at Liberty, but did take advantage of every opportunity she had to ride at the Liberty Equestrian Center.
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| Scalzo still shoots compound and barebow from a standing position on the ground, but prefers her specialized horse bow (above). (Photo courtesy of Annelise Sforza) |
She may draw inspiration from Princess Merida in the Pixar movie, "Brave," while competing in the sport, both in indoor arenas and out in the field.
"It was really for me a blend of two passions that I really love to do in a single sport," Scalzo said. "After the first time that I actually did it (shot arrows while riding horseback at a canter), you could not wipe the grin off my face. I was just all in. I was like, ‘This is my sport. I've found it.'"
She still shoots compound and traditional recurve from a standing position as well as competing in mounted archery with a specialized horse bow.
"I have kind of kept my foot in a little bit of everything that I enjoy about the world of archery and about the world of riding as well," Scalzo said.
In addition to her personal athletic endeavors, she has applied her videography and photography skills as a first assistant camera operator on local films and by producing broadcasts at Evangel Church in Scotch Plains, N.J.
Besides shooting and riding, Scalzo's favorite memories from her four years at Liberty were of the people she met, especially her archery teammates, with whom she formed quick, but lasting, friendships.
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| In mounted archery, Scalzo competes indoors (above) and outside. |
"We were all coming from different backgrounds and different levels of competing," Scalzo said. "It is very easy to sort of only focus on yourself internally, and to be part of a team where everyone was focused externally as well and helping each other and to bringing up the team as a whole was a really, really unique experience. That is definitely one of the biggest takeaways that I carry even into my own coaching of my kids now is, ‘Yes, work on yourself, but work on each other as a team and bring each other up.'"
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Scalzo unleashes an arrow (which can be seen in the air at left) in a mounted field archery event.