TAMPA - He was a patient, kind-hearted, good-natured and inspirational man dedicated to the sport of adaptive archery for players with physical disabilities.
Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay athletes offer such praise for Coach Russ Harvey, who passed away last year. There will be more praise when archers gather for the inaugural Russ Harvey Memorial Archery Tournament on Saturday at All People's Life Center, 6105 E. Sligh Ave., in Tampa. It will get underway at 9:30 a.m. and run until about noon.
According to the PSTB Coordinator Andy Chasanoff, Harvey came on board as the archery instructor in 2012 and built a fledgling program into one of national prominence.
Longtime PSTB athlete and archery player Catalina Bustamante, 27, aged out of the program but now helps coach young athletes in the game of archery, credits Harvey with giving her the skills and love for the sport, and instilling a desire to teach others.
"He was always there to help me out," Bustamante said. "Every time I felt like something had gone wrong with my shot, I always remember Russ telling me, 'Don't choke your bow. Your bow is your friend.'"
Fellow athlete and good friend Scarlett Lawhorne, now 21, credited Harvey for being hands on and, "an all-around happy guy" She also noted that as a result of his teachings she developed a passion for the sport that keeps her engaged in PSTB archery competitions and helping young athletes who are starting out in the program.
And Crystal Molina, 19, a PSTB athlete who said she's tried archery but wasn't particularly interested in pursuing the sport until Harvey became coach, credits him with her enthusiasm for the sport.
"He would sit down and work with us and he never tried to rush us," she said. "He even gave us equipment."
Crystal's mother, Sandra Molina said the fact that she enrolled her daughter in the PSTB program at the age of 4 and continues to drive her three days a week from their Dover home to All People's Life Center, the program's home base in East Tampa, speaks volumes about the teenager's longtime fondness for sports geared specifically for young people with physical limitations - especially the game of archery and Harvey, a coach who taught her daughter a whole lot and a man she truly admired.
"I miss him," Crystal Molina said.
Sadly, Harvey who also served as a USA Archery Coach and USA Archery Certified Judge, unexpected died in August of 2017 at the age of 58.
In tribute to Harvey and the positive impact he made in their lives, members of the PSTB program, plus several veterans from the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and those served by the VA's Outpatient Clinic and Southpointe Clinic in Jacksonville will participate in the competition, which is open to the public.
"As a coach, Russ was compassionate, understanding and encouraging," Chasanoff said. "He always accented the positive and transferred his love for archery to the athletes.
"PSTB is proud to continue his teachings, and as a testament to his work the archery team recently won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals in an integrated tournament held at the Renaissance Festival (in Tampa)."
Contact Joyce McKenzie at hillsnews@tampabay.com.