Middletown Archer Heads to London Olympics

Cindy Bevilacqua, co-owner of , will celebrate her 50th birthday in London...at the Olympics...assisting in a sport that has been in her blood almost since birth.

Bevilacqua, of Westtown, heads to London on Monday to participate in the 2012 London Summer Olympics as the U.S. Archery Team Leader.

As team leader, Bevilacqua is head of logistics and the liaison between the team and the Olympic Committee and the World Archery Federation.

She sets up practice times for the team, coordinates uniforms and scheduling and match times. Bevilacqua is the behind-the-scenes woman making sure the Olympians have nothing to worry about except shooting their arrows.

Bevilacqua, who has been involved with archery for 45 years, has been shooting since she was five years old and has been coaching since 1984.

"My dad was into archery as a hobby and it evolved into a business," Bevilacqua, who grew up in Middletown Township and is a graduate, said.

After Bevilacqua's father passed away a few years ago, she and her mother Grace Gilbert (or GG as the archers call her) took over the Middletown business on Barren Road.

Bevilacqua coaches 60 plus kids between the ages of six and 17 years old at Middletown Archery Club in the hopes of developing their skills to reach the state and national competition levels.

At the Olympics, Bevilacqua, along with two archery coaches, medical staff and media relations personnel, will assist the U.S. Archery Team in reaching those gold medal goals.

"We each have different concerns and roles but everyone together brings the complete package," Bevilacqua said of the archery entourage.

The Women's Archery Team includes Miranda Leek, of Iowa, Khatuna Lorig, of California and Jennifer Nichols, of Wyoming. The Men's Team includes Brady Ellison, of Arizona, Jake Kaminski, of Florida, and Jacob Wukie, of Ohio. (Check out NBC Olympics for more archery info).

The team will compete at the Lord's Marylebone Cricket Club in London which Bevilacqua is extra enthusiastic about.

"It's the high and mighty of archery, it's like the Wimbledon of tennis," Bevilacqua explained. "It's an honored place to be. Maybe the Queen will visit us there."

Although none of the Archery Olympians are from the local area or even Pennsylvania, Bevilacqua has traveled with the team for about two years now and has coached them or been a team leader at several competitions including the World Championships.

Bevilacqua had to qualify for her role as Archery Team Leader just like any other Olympian. She was evaluated at each level and had to meet credentials, qualifications and recommendations along the way. Once she was deemed qualified by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Archery Federation she was approved to apply for the position. In April, she was chosen for the spot. She was unaware how many applicants there were for the London Olympics.

This will be Bevilacqua's first trip to the Olympics. She was an assistant coach in the 2004 games but she didn't travel to Greece for the games. It will be her second time visiting London, however, since she attended the Olympic Test Events in October, which was basically a dress rehearsal, Bevilacqua explained.

Bevilacqua is leaving her mother, husband and two adult children behind in Pennsylvania while she is in London for about a month. Because she will be in the village with the athletes and her family wouldn't have access, they agreed it was best she travel alone.

"I wouldn't be able to see them," Bevilacqua said. "We decided to save the money and go on a vacation together afterwards."

Bevilacqua leaves for London on Monday and will return Aug. 13. She is expected to walk in both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

If time and ticket availability permit she said she would love to catch a glimpse of some of the other Olympic games like equestrian, gymnastics, diving or soccer.

Gilbert, Bevilacqua's mother, is just as excited and proud for her daughter's Olympic experience.

She said Bevilacqua had a long journey to become team leader and traveled to eight different countries just last year which was difficult but she enjoyed each moment because it was for the sport of archery.

"This was just a hobby of my late husbands that turned into a business," Gilbert said. "It's a shame he can't see it."

Stay with Media Patch as we follow the U.S. Archery Team's Olympic progress throughout the games.

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