Eric Bennett

Started: He first picked up a bow and arrow at age seven. He took up Para archery in 1999 at age 26 in Phoenix, AZ, United States of America. (teamusa.com, 09 Jun 2019; Athlete, 02 Sep 2016; Athlete, 30 Aug 2024) Reason: He had an interest in the equipment used for archery. After he lost his arm in an accident at age 15, he was away from the sport for a number of years. He eventually got involved in Para archery following encouragement from his father. (teamusa.com, 09 Jun 2019, 2012; Athlete, 02 Sep 2016) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Facebook page, 22 Nov 2023) Additional Info: PARA ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVE In 2019 he was elected as World Archery's Para athlete representative. "World Archery's Para committee is now trying to reach out to the countries that may be underserved. To try and introduce them to the sport, show them different abilities, different classes, different adaptive equipment and things like that which are available." (worldarchery.org, 04 Jun 2019) OCCUPATION He has worked as a physics and engineering teacher for more than 20 years. One of his students in the early 2000s was Brady Ellison, who went on to win multiple Olympic medals in archery for the United States of America. "The interesting thing about that is I actually only had him for the first semester because he left to go be a full-time resident athlete in Chula [Vista] at the beginning of the second semester." (Athlete, 30 Aug 2024; teamusa.com, 21 Nov 2023) FURTHER EDUCATION He has studied for a master's degree in educational supervision at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, United States of America. (Athlete, 02 Sep 2016)