Germantown teen is world champion in archery, and only a freshman: "I'd like to make a living off of it"

GERMANTOWN -- A Germantown boy's hobby has turned into his passion, and that passion has taken him around the globe. He's a world champion, and just a freshman in high school.

"I practice every day and I shoot anywhere from usually about an hour to three hours a day," Blaze Ruffing said.

Putting in that time is paying off for 15-year-old Ruffing.

"I've won outdoor nationals grand national champion the past two years straight. I won outdoor target nationals this year too. I just won the World Archery Festival in Vegas," Ruffing said.

Entering the world of competitive archery began like a number of hobbies do for kids -- emulating a parent.

"I got my first bow when I was 10 years old. I'm really into hunting because of my dad and I just kind of took it from there," Ruffing said.

Within three years, his skills had him looking at different targets.

"I started in a league here. I went to a local tournament in Janesville, Wisconsin and I actually won that and that really got me into it a lot more. I went and actually shot state that same year and I did very well. I almost shot a record, state record but I didn't quite. I missed it by one X I think, and I won. My dad promised me if I shot 258 X games, which I ended up doing, he would take me to nationals and I did OK there. I got fourth place and I was pretty stoked with that. After that I started doing the circuit, I guess you could say," Ruffing said.

The success came quickly, and so did his ability to concentrate -- surprising his father Matt because of how his previous activities turned out.

"I thought it would end up like the BMX bike or the dirt bike -- something he'd use for a couple of months, be tired of it and move on to other things," Matt Ruffing said.

That didn't happen here, and it was becoming more and more obvious that this was more than just a passing fancy.

"Back in the day I use to teach him how to shoot. I got him started on the right track and once he passed me up, I said 'we need to get you some good professional coaching,'" Matt Ruffing said.

That's where George Ryles came in.

"I went down to Georgia where he's out of for a summer camp he has and I got along good with all the guys and learned a lot and started shooting a lot better," Blaze Ruffing said.

While the travel can be expensive, Ruffing has found a way to make the trips to his tournaments affordable.

"My coach, he made up this torqueless D loop, it's called. It eliminates torque on the bow string. As you can see, if you clip your release just onto a string, it would spin it. It will make a non-accurate shot at distance, and I started selling those to one of the biggest, well the biggest distributor in the country and it's pretty much funded all my archery in the past year-and-a-half," Ruffing said.

As Ruffing focuses on the center of the target for each shot, he also focuses on his future, and how his success can push him towards his goal.

"Eventually I'd like to make a living off of it and be the best," Ruffing said.

Ruffing said the biggest thing about archery is just being relaxed. He said it's 99 percent mental and remembering to have fun helps in hitting the target.