NASP getting press around the country

Sorry this is so long but there are 2 GREAT articles on NASP that need a thank you and a shout out.

Article Here

Local archers take aim and fire at state tourney
By Nathan Blackford - Warrick Publishing Online

Archers from Boonville Junior High and Castle High School shot their way to state championships on March 9 at Kokomo in Indiana’s first National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) state tournament.

So far, about 30 schools in the state participate in the NASP, though only eight of those competed at the state meet.

The tournament was divided into elementary, middle and high school categories.

Boonville Junior High won the middle school division with 2,817 team points, defeating Roosevelt Middle School, which finished with 2,698 points.

Castle won the high school division with 2,981 points, while Borden was second and Boonville was third.

Boonville Junior High coach Rick Whitney has held an after-school archery club for years, and when he found out about the state NASP program, he decided to get involved.

Along with two other teachers at the school — Chris Hillenbrand and Brooke Hart — Whitney helped raise the funds to get things started.

The school needed a kit containing 11 bows, five targets, 60 arrows, a repair kit and a bow rack.

“The kit cost $2,500, so we had fundraisers, got grants and found sponsors,” said Whitney. “I think this will just grow now. This (the NASP) started in Kentucky, and now it has grown into just about all states, and even into Australia. It helps students that do not normally get to participate in sports.”

Boonville Junior High has 20 members on its team, most of them recruited after each student in the school went through the archery program in physical education class.

“It was nice, because every student in our school got a chance to do this,” said Whitney. “Some of them on our team had never shot before they got on this program. Others of them had shot with me before.”

The competition is fairly simple. Each archer gets three rounds of five arrows each at 10 meters, then another three rounds at 15 meters. The top possible individual score is 300. To compile a team score, at least four members of each gender must be included.

State champions in each division qualify for the national NASP competition in Louisville on June 9. The top five individuals in each division also qualify for the national tournament.

Castle senior Kate Whitacre was the top female scorer at the high school level, with a score of 262. Fellow Knight Melissa Wagner was just two points behind, with a 260.

The top male archer for the high school division was Borden’s Chris Howlett with a 269. Brian Hatfield of Castle was second at 268, while Boonville’s Tyler Belcher was third with a score of 266.

At the middle school level, Boonville’s Matthew Porter shot a 268, followed by teammate Zach Henderson with a 255. The Panthers also swept the top four places for the girls middle school division, led by Taylor Gentry with 252 and Katie Powell with 225.

Supported as a joint venture between school corporations throughout Indiana and the Department of Natural Resources, NASP supports student education and participation in the lifelong sport of archery. The program provides international target archery training in Indiana's physical educational classes, grades K-12. Tournament team competitors are limited to NASP participants.

NASP is found in nearly every state. In Indiana, more than 30 elementary, middle and high schools participate. NASP started in Kentucky in 2002, with 39 educators in 22 middle schools. Currently, it is offered in nearly one in four Kentucky schools as part of the educational curriculum.

The program is supported and often funded through local school corporations, the Indiana Hunter Education Association, individual donations, conservation organizations and corporate sponsors such as the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Whitney said that Boonville Junior High will probably go looking for more sponsors before next year’s state tournament.

“If anybody is interested in donating money to the BJHS archery fund, that would be great,” said Whitney. “We already need more equipment. If we want to do a team for the seventh grade and another team for the eighth grade, we’ll need another $2,500 kit. And I have already had some people donate money, including one teacher here at the school.”



Article Here

Students take aim at archery
By PAT ROBERTSON
patrob@upthecreek.net

AT SOME POINT almost every youngster ties a string to a bent limb, sharpens a slender stick to make an arrow and tries to emulate Robin Hood, an Olympic archer or his bowhunting father.

Nearly 350 young archers will get the chance to draw the string on a bow in the National Archery in Schools Program state competition Friday during the first day of the 23rd annual Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic at the S.C. State Fairgrounds.

“We had 176 students in the competition last year, and we already have 346 signed up for this year’s tournament,” said DNR First Sgt. Dennetta Dawson, who spearheaded the Archery in the Schools Program in South Carolina and has served as its coordinator.

The tournament, with competitors from fourth through 12th grade from schools across the state, features individual and team competition, shooting Olympic-style targets. Midlands schools fielding teams include Mid-Carolina High School, Lexington High School and Pine Ridge Middle School.

Participants will shoot 15 arrows at 10 meters and another 15 at 15 meters, aiming for a possible score of 300. Winners will receive medals and trophies, and the top individual boy and girl archer will win a Genesis Bow.

Two-time national intermediate champion Tom Jeffery, who operates Jeffery Archery in Columbia, will be field judge for the event.

Dawson, honored last year as South Carolina’s conservation officer of the year and last month as South Carolina’s top wildlife officer at the annual convention of the National Wild Turkey Federation in Nashville, said archery is a fast-growing activity in state schools.

“What makes it so wonderful is that teachers can do it within the school system. This program is very organized with all the materials they need academically and all the equipment they need for shooting,” she said “The training is very good, and it is easy for a teacher to pick it up.”

Started in Kentucky in 2002, NASP promotes student education and participation in shooting sports. Each year more than half a million students learn archery skills during school hours in 42 states and Australia.

For information on how a school can participate in the Archery in the Schools Program in South Carolina, call Sgt. Jim Wagers, DNR Hunting and Boating education coordinator, at (803) 734-3999, or e-mail him at wagersj@dnr.sc.gov. You can get details at www.dnr.sc.gov/hunting/archery/index.html.