Harris is Recurve Bare Bow World Champion that got her first exposure to archery at a 7th grade youth camp. She had the choice of working with beads or going over where there were trees,targets, and shoot a bow and arrow. She was the only girl to shoot the bow and arrow and continued to shoot every day of the 5 day camp.

She had a fun shooting at the camp but never pursued the sport after that camp until she read in the news paper The Nevada County Sportsmen’s club was hosting a 4H archery clinic for youth. Harris was home schooling her boys in 2003 and she remembered how much fun she had at her youth camp and thought this could be a great experience for her sons.

“I was sitting there watching the boys have a great time and decided why am I sitting here watching them have all the fun, when I could also enjoy shooting a bow again," said Harris. So she signed up for some lessons with Charlie Washburn and before long started competing on the archery course.  

There were a few other folks that helped Harris in the beginning stages of archery and they were Charlie Washburn, Claudia Stevenson, and Mark Applegate. Washburn was her first instructor and help her build arrows. She also took instruction from Stevenson and Applegate.

When Harris first started out she was shooting a compound bow and Mark Applegate was on the range watching her string walk her compound bow and said, “You need to shoot a recurve bow.” She had just bought her compound bow and really didn’t want to change at that time. But a short time after that she did start shooting a recurve and started competing.

2004 was her first year to compete in the Bare Bow F.E.T.A. Olympic style field events. This is an International competition level and it is held every other year. The first 2 years she finished in the middle of the pack, but last year in Sweden she captured the World title. She also competed in the World Games last year and finished 6th.

Because the competition is so physically demanding, she may only compete at this level for one more year. She enjoys the international friendships she has made over the years and wants to compete in 2010.

“I really enjoy coaching adults and working with the (JOAD) Junior Olympics Archery Development program,” said Harris. “This is the direction I will be leaning towards in the future.”

On a personal side, Harris’s favorite food is Norwegian kumla a potato dumpling dish and lefse, a Norwegian flat bread. Her favorite music is Yani, and doesn’t watch movies very much, but when she does, it’s usually a Disney movie.

Becky-Nelson-Harris is a perfect example of what a person can accomplish in a very short time with dedication and hard work. So be like Harris, don’t watch everyone else having fun, get out there and try archery.