Hi everyone!

I'm brand new to archery and really interested in competing and Olympics. I know that's obviously years and years and years out for me if I'm very serious about training, but I took a beginners course this past week and everything about archery felt so right to me! I'm just very excited to learn more and practice and see where it can take me.

As I'm still so new, so much of this is extremely confusing to me and I've been trying to read articles and general info to figure it all out. What would people suggest as a good competitive (or not) recurve bow to start using to train for competitions? Some basic info, I am a male, 5'5" and fairly athletic, I work pit regularly but by no means am a muscle bro or manlet. How long of a bow should o be getting? How strong of a bow should I start with?

In addition, I am from New Jersey. Are there local competitions that occur that are parts of official circuits for America? Like does America have official competitions or is it just randomly clubs may host events? For about a decade I was a competitive fencer and we had a national membership you had to pay and subscribe to to compete. There were also specific websites that would list every competition locally and internationally. Does a website such as this exist for archery?

Lots of questions! I'd be really appreciative of any and all information and recommendations you guys can give! Especially if there are things you think I should be aware of that are less obvious or you wish you had known. Thankand have a great day.