Six years ago, when Joe and Molly Veith of Davenport took up archery, their father, Dan, said it was supposed to be "an innocuous little sport that dad and the kids were going to do after school.

"Thousands of miles and thousands of dollars later look where we are," Dan Veith said.

It is not so much where they are as what they are: Champion archers.

Joe, 14, and Molly, 12, won gold in their age groups at the State Games of America in Colorado Springs in August.

Joe, a freshman at Davenport Central, is the overall Iowa state champion, a title he has held for the past four years. He also holds one state record.

Molly, who attends All Saints Catholic School, also is the overall Iowa state champion, a title she has held for the past four years. She holds three Iowa state records.

Now their sights are aimed on something higher; the Junior Olympics and the World Cup, both are held each year, and of course, "hopefully, the Olympics," Molly said. "The Olympics would be so cool."

"That's where all athletes hope to be someday," Joe said.

The Olympics is held every four years, and it is hoped Chicago will get the 2016 Games.

Both have expressed professional aspirations.

"I've thought about it," Joe said. "What a cool job it would be to go all over the world and get paid to do something fun.

"You hear about the pros shooting 300 arrows a day," he said. "I could do that if I'm getting paid."

Both shoot a compound bow, one that has the wheels and pulleys, as opposed to the recurve bow, or something Robin Hood would shoot.

For them to make the Olympics, they would have to shoot a recurve bow. That's all the Olympics allows at this time.

"I hope to see them change that one day," said Joe Sutcliffe, the archery manager at B&B Shooting Supplies in Bettendorf. Sutcliffe has helped coach Joe and Molly. "Ninety-five percent of archers shoot compound these days, while only five percent shoot recurve."

Sutcliffe said Joe and Molly have the talent to compete internationally.

"They're both very determined," he said. "They put in a lot of time and effort, which is probably the biggest thing.

"They study their stance and work on their technique," Sutcliffe added. "In this sport, the little things mean a lot. The difference between being average and being very good is very small. The people who do the little things consistently is where the difference in the scores come from."

It is because the two pay such close attention to the little things that they have dominated competition, he said.

This all started, Dan Veith said, when six years ago he purchased a cheap bow and some arrows for Joe, who was then 8, as a Christmas present.

During a weekend at the family farm in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Joe shot, and shot, and shot his new bow.

A few months later while shooting at the Davenport Valley Archers, Joe's bow could hardly put a hole in the paper.

"We got him a better kid's bow and put a sight on it," Dan Veith said.

One night, the two were leaving to go shoot when Molly, then 6, came bounding down the stairs.

"She had Joe's old bow and a handful of arrows yelling, 'I want to go, too,'" Dan Veith said.

"I didn't know anything about archery," Molly said. "It just looked fun."

"That summer, I asked Molly for some ideas for her birthday which is in December," Dan Veith said. "She told me, 'I want a bow, a good one.'"

Joe got a new bow in September, and Molly got hers in December.

It wasn't long before the pair was competing in local, state and national archery tournaments, and either winning, placing or showing.

"It has been fun," said Molly, who plays flute and volleyball and who someday wants to be in the show choir at Central. "We get to travel and we meet a lot of interesting people. Sure, we compete against them, but then you make friends with them.

"We're also there for each other," she added. "If somebody breaks an arrow, there's always somebody to give them another one."

Joe, who also plays the trumpet in the Central band, said he doesn't compete against his sister and vice versa. "We always keep a close check on what the other is doing. And we try to help each other out."

"We compare scores," said Molly, "but we never go ha ha if the other doesn't do well."

"You're always glad when they both win gold medals because it's going to be a long ride home for somebody," Dan Veith said.

Mom Kathy also is in the picture, too.

"Dan's the coach," she said. "My best job is being the transporter, to be the No. 1 fan," she said.

The venues are different than she had grown used to.

"I'm used to going to baseball games and basketball games where you can cheer really loud, and I had to learn to be a quiet fan," Kathy Veith said.

"I'm amazed at how it started as a small little thing, something to do at night," she said, "and how it's blossomed."

And while Joe and Molly enjoy the archery competition, they are not obsessed by it, she added. "They still do all the teen things."

Shooting accomplishments

Molly

ISAA Delta ProAm: 2007 4th/ 576; 2008 3rd/623; 2009 1st/ 618

State Indoor (300 round): 2006 1st/263; 2007 1st/294; 2008 1st/300; 2009 1st/297

NFAA Indoor Nationals (600 round): 2008 2nd/600; 2009 7th/587

ISAA Sate Target (900 round): 2006 1st/731; 2007 1st/861; 2008 1st/882 state record (changed to 600 round): 2009 1st/578 state record

ISAA State Field: 2006 1st/806; 2007 1st/806; 2008 1st/823; 2009 1st/803 Record

NFAA Outdoor Nationals: 2008 2nd/1860

Iowa State Games: 2008 1st/1186; 2009 1st/1175

State Games of America: 2009 1st/843

Joe

ISAA Delta ProAm (690 points would be perfect score): 2007 7th/601; 2008 5th/611; 2009 3rd/662

ISAA Sate Indoor (300 round): 2006 3rd/289; 2007 2nd/289; 2008 1st/298; 2009 2nd/295

NFAA Indoor Nationals (600 round): 2008 11th/594; 2009 3rd/600 (perfect)

ISAA State Target (900 round): 2006 2nd/847; 2007 1st/862; 2008 1st/878; 2009 Changed to 600 round): 1st/595Record

ISAA State Field: 2006 1st/803; 2007 1st/795; 2008 1st/750; 2009 2nd/821

NFAA National Outdoor: 2008 2nd/1623

Iowa State Games (1200 round): 2008 1st/1187; 2009 2nd/1180

Sate Games of America (900 round): 2009 1st/862

Upcoming competitions

ISAA Delta ProAm- Jan. 8-10/ Mason City Iowa2010

Indoor Nationals JOAD- 2/26-2/28 in DesMoines2010

ISAA State Indoor-2010

Indoor Nationals- 3/20-3/21 2010 Louisville Kentucky

JOAD Outdoor Nationals6/24-6/27 2010 Des Moines

ISAA State Target

ISAA State Field

Iowa Games

First Dakota Classic