One of the most exciting aspects of the National Archery in the School Program are the competitions.
It is a time for the students to enjoy the benefits of all their hard work and for parents, family, and friends to watch the students compete.
It is important to note that for a school to be eligible to compete in NASP® events, that school must teach in school archery lessons to the students of that school. These lessons must be taught in school, during the school day, in a class as part of the class curriculum. Since these lessons must include the opportunity for students to shoot a bow and arrow, they are typically taught in the school physical education classes.
In most states
There are many opportunities for schools to participate in competitions throughout the school year.
During in the season, archers will compete in local, state qualifying, and regional events. At State tournament, teams and individuals will attempt to qualify for the Eastern and Western National Tournament. We finish our season by hosting the Open Championship tournament. The Open tournament is just that, open to all NASP® archers and the Championship tournament is for those that qualify at the Eastern and Western national tournaments.
You want to participate in a national-level NASP® tournament?
Here are a few requirements:
Students must be currently enrolled in a participating NASP® school or homeschool – if you are not sure about whether your school is active in our system, talk with the teacher or coach at your school where you were introduced to NASP®. If you are still not sure, you can look up your state/jurisdiction’s NASP® coordinator. We have a list of these for every state/jurisdiction here: NASP® Coordinators. Give them a call or an email and they will help you identify your school’s assigned (Basic Archery Instructor) (BAI) so you can talk to them about registration process.
Once you identify the person(s) at your school with an active BAI, work with them to get registered and paid for the tournament. The coach who registers an interested student/team must be an active BAI (Basic Archery Instructor) in the NASP® system and must login and perform the actual registration for the interested student(s) or team (even if the coach will not be attending the actual Open Tournament).
Once you are registered, you can begin practicing and planning to compete!
First you will need to make sure you have an original Genesis bow that is adjusted to your preferred draw weight and Easton 1820 aluminum NASP® arrows and a regulation size target to practice – Make sure that your practice range is set up safely with an adequate backstop should you miss you intended target. The backstop should be a berm, hill or at least 50 yards of open field behind your target. You could also use a suitable material such as an arrow resistant curtain as a safe backstop.
Next, you must decide where you can practice safely. You will need a place to practice for your competition which allows you to safely shoot from both the 10- and 15-meter distances. Here is a link to our NASP® Safety Review Video, to get your started on establishing where you will practice.
Next, you will need to know how to score your arrows, and how to keep up with your progress. The scoring protocol that we use in NASP® tournaments can be found by viewing our NASP® Scoring Protocol video. Our Score card is one that must be bubbled in with a pencil, during competition.
NOTE: You might consider talking with your school’s NASP® teacher, or coach about using your school’s gym according to local policies for safety and supervision for practice. If not, you might contact your local archery shop or sporting goods store to see if there is archery range space available for you to practice safely. For any other questions that you might have, here is a link to the NASP® rules.
How do I practice?
We asked two very capable NASP® Coaches to provide some guidance for archers that might be getting ready on their own. Each of these coaches have been selected as past NASP® Coaches of the Year! They all have tremendous experience and success in preparing students to do well at our tournaments. Each of them jumped at the opportunity to help you, so check out their suggestions! Below are the links to two videos. Each video is provided so that wherever you are, you now have some support – as you prepare for your first NASP® tournament.
2018 NASP® OTFLA Coach of the Year Rob Jellison of Hartland Michigan offers some insights for first time attenders of the Open Tournament! Rob has years of consistent success in preparing archers for State and National Tournaments. Take a moment to hear some words of wisdom on how to prepare for, and what to expect from your first NASP® Tournament!
Thanks, Coach Rob!
Tom Patterson, the 2016 NASP® OTFLA Coach of the Year, from Trigg County Kentucky provides some extremely help helpful information for both new and experienced archers and coaches. Tom has coaches multiple State, National and World championship teams.Watch the video to see the helpful advice that Coach Patterson has to offer.
Thanks, Coach Tom!
