USCA member Ashlee Sheppard from Occidental College has been asked by Paralympic Archery Head Coach Randi Smith to attend the Paralympic Grand Prix in Stoke-Mandeville, Great Britain, July 17-23. 

According to Coach Smith, ‘Ashlee is very close to making our ‘emerging’ qualification and was invited to attend this event because of her potential and skill in compound archery.  We would like to build a women’s compound Para Archery Team and I’m looking forward to having Ashlee join us in England.’

Sheppard is a senior at Occidental College, majoring in Economics with an emphasis in Business Management, and Japanese language minor. 

Ashlee first started shooting soon after deciding to stop playing water polo. Ashlee and her parents took a trip to Oregon where she saw an archery ad in a magazine.  She remembered trying archery at camp when in elementary school, and thought it might be fun to try again.  Soon after returning from the trip, Ashlee started attending Saturday morning archery classes; however, school kept her busy enough to prevent her from getting serious about shooting until the beginning of her second year at Occidental College, when Ashlee found out there was an archery range very close to her school.  Since then, Ashlee reports, she has grown to love the sport and has met some amazing people who support her and encourage her to continue shooting.  Ashlee is now coached by Mike Burnham who was recently named USCA’s Coach of the Year.