Team Whiskey, a brand focused on outdoor sports and whiskey enthusiasts, is gearing up to host its High Sierra Archery Shoot at Heavenly Lake Tahoe from May 31 to June 1, partnered with the children’s foundation Give Hope Reno.

Give Hope Reno is a local nonprofit providing hope, relief, and financial support to families with children battling chronic illnesses and diseases, particularly with cancer. Over the years, Team Whiskey has raised over $50,000 for Give Hope Reno. 

In the years since Team Whiskey’s founding, attendance has grown from just over a hundred to over 1,100 expected attendees this year. The outdoor brand originated in 2017, during a hunting trip in which founder Kevin Stang and his friends called themselves “Team Whiskey.” However, they didn’t begin bottling whiskey until 2023. 

Stang says they chose archery as the sport to represent their event because archery is a feel-good sport unlike any other. He wants participants to experience “the mystical flight of the arrow, something completely different than any other things that you do. Kind of like skiing the run.”

“When you go to draw back that target, it’s one of the stress relieving things that people love,” said Stang. “It’s pretty magical just to see the confidence in kids.” At one of the events, one girl “was beaming with confidence” after her first archery shoot. “She couldn’t wait to tell me about all the targets she shot and how well she did.”

The event will offer three course ranging in skill levels and abilities, which offer something for everyone. Stang himself has been shooting archery for 46 years, and says the sport connects him to the earth. “Team Whiskey is all about having fun and helping the community out,” he said. “Our motto is ‘we endure'”.