With two tween girls in the house finding activities to do as a family has proven to be more difficult than it used to be. We have outgrown a lot of our old activities – children’s museums, trips to new playgrounds and lots of theater geared towards the younger set. A family outing to Invicta Sports Club for an Archery Session this weekend was a big hit for everyone and has immediately become a “must do again” activity for our 10 and 12 year olds.
Invicta Sports Club has been open for about a month off of Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg. The location is clean, bright and friendly but a little hard to find (tip – it is around the back of the building that you think it is in). We signed up for a one hour archery session using their online reservation system and arrived a few minutes early to fill out our required waivers.
Our session began with equipment distribution, safety rules and an overview of how to use the bow and arrow. Alexi, the resident expert, has a thick Russian accent but makes sure that everyone can follow along with his instructions. After 10 minutes or so we were geared up and ready to give it a go.
There are 8 lanes of archery targets at Invicta and each participant gets 5 arrows to shoot. The instructors are very careful that everyone is finished shooting all their arrows before you can go to collect your arrows from the target to begin again. We started in close proximity to our targets and progressively moved back as a group after a few rounds at each distance. To keep things safe but easy for kids, the instructors move all the archers back to the same distance but will move the kids’ targets closer allowing for more success.
On our weekend visit, all 8 lanes were used for shooting. There were 4 parents, 1 teenager, our 2 tween girls and a 7 year old boy. The instructors were patient, attentive and gave help when needed to both the kids and adults. The one hour session goes by quickly and a fun time was had by all in our group.
The cost for the one-hour archery session is set at $37 per person. They are currently running a deal on Certifikid for cheaper rates ($20 for one person or $39 for two). Invicta also has birthday party packages available and a drop-in option for Spring Break Camp. In addition to archery, Invicta offers fencing lessons by age group and a one-hour family class to try your hand at the sport.
If you are looking for something new to try for a family activity I would highly recommend checking out Invicta Sports Club. Kids as young as 5 can join in on the archery fun (though the Certifikid deal states that kids need to be 7 or older) and the activity is well suited for both adults and kids. We are excited to return to Invicta for another family fun day sometime soon.
Photos courtesy of Kim Engstrom.
