Neelyville man gains international acclaim
The 4-pound bow seems as if it weighs 20 pounds in the archer’s hands. As he nocks his final arrow, his heart feels like it’s beating out of his chest and he’s dripping in cold sweat from nerves and the Argentinian heat. Time stands still as that arrow pierces the target. He hears his teammates cheering and knows he just secured a spot on the medal stand for his country.
Joshua Miller of Neelyville has taken his love for archery and competition to an international stage competing for Team USA in Italy and Argentina during the past two years. He’s endured trials, tribulations, heartbreak and redemption in competition culminating with a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Field Championship.
Joshua moved to Neelyville at a young age and grew up on the family farm. Basketball was his passion growing up and that transitioned to cage fighting as he got older. He eventually gave up mixed martial arts to attend nursing school and found a new outlet with his brother, Mychael.
“He’s a very avid bow hunter, so I finally went out and joined him,” Joshua says. “This gave me that challenge and competition I like. I fell in love with it from the first moment I pulled back that string.”
Joshua decided his specialty was going to be longbow archery. He and Mychael found a competition in nearby Poplar Bluff and entered. The event was in the winter and Mother Nature had brought snow and ice to the area. “We were the only two that showed up, so we won by default,” the Ozark Border Electric Cooperative member says with a smile. “But man, we had so much fun. I told my brother I wanted to see how far I could get with this. For the next two years, all I did was eat, breathe and sleep traditional archery.”
He started to rack up titles for his archery skills. His local shoots turned into state shoots, which turned into national shoots. When he wasn’t shooting or practicing, he was at home reading about archery or watching videos on YouTube or Facebook. That’s where he found out about USA Archery and their trials for international events. Joshua had a new goal: to represent Team USA internationally.
He was eyeing the U.S. Team Trials for the biennial World Archery 3D Championships in 2021, but COVID-19 pushed that back a year. “It ended up being almost four years of prepping and practicing for that shot at making the three-man team,” he says.
His hard work paid off as just a few months after the trials Joshua and his wife, Cassie — who were expecting their third child — packed up Joshua’s Team USA jersey in Neelyville and set course for Terni, Italy.
There were 51 competitors in the longbow division, with just 16 making the knockout bracket. Joshua had just got in with the 16th spot when the whole trip got turned sideways. “My sister was with us and she called me on my way back to the hotel and told me Cassie had been rushed to the hospital,” he says. “I rushed to the hospital but wasn’t allowed in still due to COVID. At the end of the day, we had a miscarriage. It was very devastating; nothing else mattered except for my wife and our family.”
Once Joshua and Cassie were reunited, he began to look up flights to get them back to Neelyville when Cassie interjected. “We were distraught but she was just saying ‘No. No. You’ve put too much into this. You’re going to shoot,’ ” he recalls. “Against my better judgment I listened to her. She’s a tough bird. I’m blessed to have her.”
He found healing in writing scriptures on his bow and arrows before the competition. “Just before shooting I drew a cross and my favorite scripture on an bow, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ ”
Despite his best efforts, Joshua dropped his next match and was eliminated from the championship. Back in Neelyville, he put down his bow for a few months after the tumultuous trip to Terni. The years of training by yourself can be draining.
“Eventually you’re on a team and you’re shooting against someone else, but it’s just you,” he says. “I control the arrow and factor in the wind, terrain or distance. It boils down to be me versus me.”
Joshua still wanted to compete and make up for his finish in Italy. He joined Team USA for the 2023 Pan American Field Championship in Argentina. He prepared much smarter this time. “I would just train one or two hours per day on very specific things and on windy days I would study flashcards I made,” he says.
In November, Joshua traveled to Argentina — Cassie was seven months pregnant — and was surrounded by waterfalls, jungle and unbearable heat for the games. His training bore fruit as he shot well enough to earn a bye into the semifinals. Nerves got the best of him in the semifinals and he fell short. He returned the following day knowing he still had an opportunity to earn a medal for his country.
“I got up to shoot and my heart was beating out of my chest seeing the cameras and everyone watching,” he says. “I tried to remember my breathing techniques and remind myself this is just backyard shooting like I do at home in Missouri.”
Joshua proudly brought the bronze home, knowing he had left everything he had competitively in Argentina. A few weeks later the Millers brought Ivy — their first daughter — back to their rural home in Neelyville to join their sons Ace, 4, and Maverick, 7. He’s unsure how much he’ll compete moving forward.
“My family is No. 1,” he says. “I want to be present and give them a childhood they’ll remember. I want to do the things they want to do.”
While he’s not sure if he has any more competition in front of him, Joshua is lifted knowing his accomplishments were earned with hard work.
“I love the friendships I’ve made, but what gets me excited is the end result,” he says. “Not that the medals or trophies signified that I won anything, but it justifies all the hours and sweat we put into this.”
For more on Joshua Miller, follow his YouTube channel Styk Man Archery or search for Joshua Miller on Facebook.