Sportsmens News & Media

LEVI MORGAN

BY TRACY BREEN 

 Mention the name Levi Morgan in archery circles and you will get one of two responses: a bright smile or a large sigh.  Morgan is only twenty-three years old and in the last five years, he has accomplished more than many pro archers do in a lifetime.  Archery fans love him and the competition can’t seem to beat him.  Levi Morgan is on fire.  His success as an archer began as a small child.  “I got my first bow when I was three years old and started shooting competitively when I was six years old.  I won my first World Championship when I was eleven years old.”  The rest, as they say, is history.  Morgan has been the ASA and IBO Shooter of the Year for several years straight.  He is not even twenty-five years old! 

      Morgan’s dad, Mark got Levi into the sport when he was three and quickly saw that Levi had talent.  He started focusing on fine-tuning his skill. “My dad pushed me when I was a kid because he realized I had a lot of natural ability.  He knew that if he pushed me, I could achieve a lot in this sport.  I am glad he pushed me.  It wasn’t always fun when I was shooting when I was young, but it paid off.”  To say it paid off is an understatement.  When Morgan turned eighteen, he went pro and decided that he wanted to make a living as a professional archer.  “As a kid in school, I had a teacher who kept telling me that making it as a professional archer wasn’t a realistic goal and said I should start thinking about college.  Looking back now, I realize just how slim the chances were of making it to where I am today.  It is by the grace of God that I am where I am.” 

     Being one of the top in the archery world takes dedication and many archers have much support from friends and family. Morgan’s biggest supporter is his wife, Samantha who is also a professional archer. “We met when we were kids at an archery tournament.  Having a wife who shoots competitively helps because she is doing the same things and shooting at tournaments so she has first hand experience of what I am doing and what it takes to be successful.”

    Shooting archery is extremely important to Morgan but believe it or not he would rather bow hunt than shoot in tournaments. “I love bowhunting and that is what I did when I was a kid; I bow hunted all the time with my dad. “I hope to someday move to a place where there are many big bucks and bow hunt a lot.” 

     Morgan loves bowhunting so much that he and Samantha now have their own TV show called Life on the Road TV. “We are really just getting into TV.  It is a lot of fun but we have a lot to learn about the TV side of the archery business. We are learning as we go, but it is a blast.”

    Morgan has accomplished a lot in archery.  He says most of it is God-given talent.  He  practices a couple days a week and says archery is not the most significant accomplishment in his life. “My biggest accomplishment is accepting Christ into my life several years ago.  Nothing else compares to that,” Morgan sternly said. It goes to show what you can accomplish when you have your priorities straight. Everyone always says we need to start kids into the sport of archery when they are young. Levi Morgan is a classic example of what can happen when a loving parent support and encourages a natural gift and love for archery.