Frankfort, KY (March 14, 2004) - The third annual National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) national tournament gets underway Wednesday morning at Louisville’s International Convention Center.

Over 1,800 students from more than 100 schools from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky will make this year’s tournament the largest student archery event in U.S. history. The tournament has grown more than three-fold since its inaugural event.

"The tremendous growth and popularity of this program is astounding," said Roy Grimes, an aide to Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KDFWR) commissioner Tom Bennett and national coordinator for NASP. "It has exceeded all expectations.

"The number of student archers competing in this event has grown about 50 percent over last year’s 1,291 and has overwhelmed our facility this year," he said. "It’s hard to believe that we have outgrown Louisville’s Convention Center in just three years."

The Olympic style archery program was a Kentucky spearheaded effort to promote academic success among Kentucky students and inspire greater interest in outdoor skills development. It began as the Kentucky Archery in the Schools Program. But that name soon changed when its almost overnight popularity quickly expanded nationwide. The first event, held in Lexington three years ago, attracted 600 student archers.

"NASP is a cooperative venture of the KDFWR, the Kentucky Department of Education and several archery and conservation organizations," said Grimes. "The big three backers of the program have been Mathews Archery, the Archery Trade Association, and the National Wild Turkey Federation."

Shooting begins at 9:45 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. Awards will be given from 5 to 6 p.m. Team awards for individual states will be given for the top three teams in the Elementary (K-6), Middle (7-8) and High School (9-12) divisions.

These team scores will be compiled from the sum of the top 15 scores for each team in each division. Individual awards will be presented to the top five boys and girls in each division for each state. Some states may not conduct a state championship, but will still be eligible for national awards.

National Championship awards will be bestowed up the three highest scoring teams in each division. The five highest scoring boys and girls from each division will receive first through fifth place individual National Championship Awards.

Also, at the conclusion of the competition and before the awards ceremony, the top four scoring boys and girls in all divisions will be invited to participate in the Shooting for the Future Competition. Each of the eight shooters invited to the Shooting for the Future Competition will receive scholarships for post-secondary education.

Kentucky now has more than 322 schools enrolled in the Archery in the Schools Program, a 33 percent increase over last year. Twenty-four other states have launched Archery in the Schools Programs in the last year, an increase of 300 percent. Fifteen other states are highly interested in adopting the Archery in the Schools program.

For more information about the National Archery in the Schools Program, contact the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources at 1-800-858-1549, or go on-line at fw.ky.gov.

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