'Something fun to do': Ogden 12-year-old parlays passion for archery into 2 national titles

OGDEN — Many kids gravitate to football, soccer or basketball as their preferred sport.

Joukai Omura of Ogden, though, has chosen another path. While he loves baseball, he's perhaps made his biggest mark as an athlete in archery, garnering numerous accolades, including two national titles in the sport this year. It's been a meteoric rise that started a few short years ago, and he hopes for more.

"Around three years ago, I was just thinking that a bow would kind of be something fun to do, so I asked for a bow for Christmas and I received it," he said.

His father, Fred Omura, isn't sure what prompted the interest.

"Just 100% him. Really, I had shot a bow occasionally, just goofing off with friends out in some field somewhere because my buddy was doing it. It never intrigued me until Joukai got involved," the elder Omura said.

Whatever the inspiration, Joukai, a seventh-grader at Greenwood Charter School in Harrisville, put in the time and started competing a few short months after getting the Christmas bow.

"I would do it around ... five days a week for a few hours," he said.

He has since earned plenty of trophies and recognition, including the title of indoor national champion for his age group at the S3DA tournament last February and national champ in his age category at the S3DA Las Vegas National Championship competition in March.

"It is kind of one of those things where you can walk up to somebody and say, 'My son is a two-time national champion'," said Omura.

S3DA, also known as the Scholastic Archery Association, is a major archery organization that promotes the sport among youth and sponsors tournaments around the country.

Last month, Joukai also garnered honors as 2026 Archer of the Year in the 16-18 age category at a tournament at Easton Archery Center in Salt Lake City, which draws competitors mainly from Utah. He had been vying for the Youth Athlete of the Year title in a contest sponsored by 3Brand, a manufacturer of sports apparel, but was recently eliminated, making it to the final 3,000 or so candidates out of around 170,000 from around the country who originally signed up.

'I like the precision'

Joukai loves baseball, maybe even more than archery. But he likes the quiet concentration required of archery, required to hit a target with his arrow, a contrast to other more physical sports.

"I like the precision, how you have to kind of take accuracy into it because you can't just draw back and instantly fling it. You have to take your time and kind of focus on it," he said.

Joel Moreno, his coach at the Weber County Archery Park, the county-owned facility in Ogden where Joukai trains, said Joukai has put in the practice time required to be a good archer. Beyond that, he said, Joukai was just "quick to adapt" to the sport.

"His level of expertise sort of surpassed a lot of the kids quickly, but he was doing what was required. He was putting the work into it," Moreno said. At times, he said, Joukai has had to compete in older age groups because "he wants more competition."

Looking ahead, Joukai wants to keep it up, maybe try for a national championship title again. But he says he also wants to help others, spur their interest in archery. "I also like lifting other people up so ... I could also be kind of a coach for archery," he said.

His father, meanwhile, stresses the hard work and effort his son puts into archery, not just the titles and accolades he's received. That, as much as anything, seems to impress Omura.

"I don't know a 12-year-old that works as hard as him to just get better in every facet of things that interest him," he said.

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