The National Archery in the School’s Press Release
“Archers and Athens Collide at the 2019 Open & Champions”
By Brittany Jones
July 2, 2019
Nashville, Tennessee, nicknamed “Athens of the South” and “Music City” is known for their life-sized replica of Greek architecture, the Parthenon, and of course for its country music. This year, it will also be home to the National Archery in the Schools Program’s Open & Championship, July 25-27th. This won’t be the first time this musical city has opened its doors to NASP® tournaments. Back in 2015, what was known as the NASP® World Tournament took place. Since then, this popular tournament has been renamed the NASP® Open & Championship.
For ten years, from 2009 through 2018, NASP® conducted a World Tournament for student archers who attend NASP® schools in eleven participating countries. While the event was very popular with the more than 5,000 students who joined the fun, participation from countries beyond the United States has always been low. This is understandable, considering the expense of bringing 12-24 student teams, plus parents from countries such as South Africa, Namibia, United Kingdom.
Beginning this year in Nashville, NASP® will hold a new replacement event called the “NASP® Open & Championship”. The first day of the tournament will be “open’ to NASP® students that may have not been able or qualified attend past world tournaments. In fact, students who wish to attend this “Open” day are not required to have participated in any tournament at all. They must simply attend a school that provides NASP® archery lessons. They must be registered by an instructor associated with the school they attend. Almost 850 students have registered for the “Open”. As many as 200 of these will shoot well enough to be invited to remain in Nashville and join another nearly 2,600 students in the final Championship Tournament. These Championship archers have advanced from their country’s national tournament.
The International Bowhunting Organizations (IBO) has 223 students registered for the Open day and 1,650 for the Championship. Approximately 500 schools are represented from the US and Canada. The current “tentative” schedule is as follows: The Open Tournament will be on Thursday July 25th and the Championship Tournament will be on Friday/Saturday, July 26 -27th. An All-Star competition, combining both bulls-eye and 3D shooting, between Canada and the USA, will be held on Friday July 26th. The NASP®/IBO 3D Challenge Open will also be held on July 25th and the NASP®/IBO Challenge Championship will be contested July 26-27th.
In addition to the Open & Championship and as mentioned above in the schedule, on Friday, eighteen student archers from Canada and eighteen from the United States will represent their country in a “NASP® All-Star Championship”. Each of these archers will shoot a bullseye score and a 3D score on Friday, July 26th. The combined scores of these bullseye and 3D flights will determine the team and individual winners of the all-star event.
One of the most exciting events taking place at this Nashville tournament will be the “Scholarship Shoot-Off”. Students who have advanced from the Salt Lake City “Western NASP® Nationals” and the Louisville “Eastern Nationals”, will shoot for just over $110,000 in cash scholarships. The top boy and girl will each receive $20,000 placed in an account for their use when they pursue education beyond High School. Other students will earn $15,000 to $1,000 scholarships based upon their shoot-off performance. When watching the shoot-off, it is obvious the parents are just as excited as their young archers as they rack up scholarship money!
Spectators and archers can expect the same rules and range set-up as at past tournaments. Archers will release their arrows from ten- and fifteen-meter shooting lines. They will shoot an “end” of five practice arrows, followed by fifteen scored arrows from both the ten and fifteen-meter lines. The highest score possible is a 300 with 30 tens.
Of course, these tournaments would not be possible without the dedicated work of volunteers who set up the range, lane officiate, and tear down the range. The majority of these volunteers will be provided by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). NASP® is also grateful to its many “medal level” and “partner” level sponsors who make this entire non-profit effort called NASP®, tick so smoothly. These sponsors and additional information can be found at: www.naspschools.org.
Archers, as you are traveling to the “Athens of the South”, remember that the Greek God Apollo was a master wielder of the bow and arrow, and so are you! Good luck and safe travels as you head south for the 2019 Open & Championship. For more information on the NASP® tournaments, please visit www.naspschools.org.