The Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS), in the forefront of competitive archery in the province, hosted a home open archery shoot for archers in Grades 4 to 12 over the weekend. The event, open to any young archer in the province drew over 250 participants, reports YRHS archery coach and shoot coordinator, Darren Wandy. Archers came from Yorkton, Canora, Churchbridge, Langenburg, Fort Qu'Appelle, Saltcoats, and Melfort, Wandy adds.
Introduced four years ago as a pilot program at YRHS, the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) has really taken off in the province. Starting with 10 schools initially, NASP has grown to include over 100 schools participating in the program, says Wandy. It's also grown nation-wide, he adds.
All coaches and therefore students receive the same training, Wandy points out. The youngsters at the tournament know all the rules, including whistle commands, how to handle a bow, and how to retrieve their arrows, he explains.
The program is set up with safety in mind first and foremost, Wandy states.
In the competition each archer shoots two practice rounds of five arrows at 10 metres, followed by three five arrow rounds for scoring. They move back to 15 metres, take a practice round and then shoot three more rounds of five arrows for a combined score of 300. Winners will be the best shooters out of 300.
Any tie in any age category or gender class is decided in a shoot-off with each archer shooting three arrows. "In the last three years we've had a shoot-off between the senior boys," Wandy recalls.
If the score is still tied after three arrows, it comes down to a one arrow shoot-off, Wandy continues.
Awards were presented to the first place male and female in each of the three age classes as well as the first place team in each of the three categories, Wandy reports.
Currently, while the sport is still growing, YRHS is the only centre which hosts a shoot such as the one on the weekend. Young archers from around the province practice all year to prepare the event. The shoot is a good introduction for provincials which will take place in two weeks.
Wandy thanks all the parent volunteers and the YRHS staff who helped run the shoot. As well, a special thank you is offered to Mike and Leanne Jarvis of Bird Dog Archery for donating a prize bow and all their help with NASP in the past. Wandy closes by thanking YRHS and the Good Spirit School Division for the use of the facility and their support for the in school archery program.
