Archer is currently hosting a raffle for a $2,000 bow to raise funds for some of her travel expenses

ATASCADERO — Professional compound bow archer and Atascadero resident Bella Otter has caught the world’s attention with her archery skills. 

Otter, who made it onto the United States Archery Team in November 2020, has been invited to compete in not one, but two international competitions this year: the Pan American Championships in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Stage 3 of the World Cup in Paris, France.

Otter is currently in Nova Scotia competing in the Pan American Championships, which run from May 30 thru June 5.

“I got invited to be on the United States archery team heading to Nova Scotia for the Pan American Championships,” Otter said. “And it’s my very first international competition, my very first time having the USA jersey on a stage outside of the U.S., on an international stage.” 

Shortly after being offered a spot on the Nova Scotia team, Otter was then invited to be on the USA team headed to Paris for Stage 3 of the World Cup, which will take place June 20-24.

There are two classifications of bows: compound and recurve. While most people are familiar with recurve bows, which are what you see at the Olympics, and in most media, Otter shoots a compound bow.

“I can’t go to the Olympics because there’s no Olympic event for compound archery. So, as a compound archer, the World Cup is kind of the highest invitation there is as far as competing against the world. And so that’s incredibly exciting like I can’t even believe it,” added Otter. “The extra cool thing about it, too, is that they picked four compound women, regardless of age group. The other three women that are going to be on the team with me, they are all older than I am, and they would be competing in the senior age class.”

Otter, who graduated from Atascadero High School in 2021 and now attends Cuesta College as a freshman, usually competes in the junior compound category. The junior age class is for ages 18-21, while the senior age class covers ages 21-50.

“In the Nova Scotia trip, I’m going with two other girls, so there’s three of us that all are in the same age group,” Otter said. “Our age group is incredibly talented. We have a super super huge number of really really really talented athletes.”

While her trip to compete in the World Cup in Paris is fully funded, Otter’s trip to compete in the Pan American Championships in Nova Scotia is not. This led Otter to create a raffle to help with fundraising for travel funds.

“In order to help fundraise for my travel expenses and kind of offset some of the costs, I’m raffling off a brand new, $2,000 value bow,” she said. “It’s kind of like a Lamborghini of a bow, if you will, in the archery world.”

The bow is made by Precision Shooting Equipment (PSE) Archery, which is also Otter’s bow sponsor. This particular style of bow has won world championships and is shot by champion archers from all over the world.

The drawing for the bow will take place on Tuesday, June 7, once Otter has returned home from Nova Scotia. All proceeds will go directly to Otter and her time competing in the Pan American Championships.

The raffle is $10 for one entry, $25 for 3 entries, $50 for 8 entries, $75 for 14 entries, and $100 for 20 entries.

You can enter the bow raffle by searching @bella-otter on Venmo or reach out to Bella directly at (805) 441-9764 or bellaotterarchery@gmail.com for more ways to enter and for other ways to support.