Just wondering what everyones opinion was about the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP)?
Will it help or hurt us in Traditional Archery?
Tim
Mostly wheelie Genesis bows from Mathews - no archery involved.
Anytime you can put a bow in a kid's hand is a good thing. This program brings them to more kids than any other.
As far as "no archery involved". The Genesis bows operate without letoff and draw length adjustments, so I fail to see how the process of shooting is any different than a traditional bow.
Like many of us here, I only needed the fire to be lit with a compound.
I'm all for anything that gets kids involved in Archery. :archer:
It's a great program, yes they use the mathews genesis bows but no sights or releases so the fundamentals are still there! Our local club helps support the program finacialy in our high school and jr high school by buying bows, replaceing stings, cables and so forth.
Just a few weeks ago our local jr high won the IL state championship and will be going to Louseiville KY to compete in the national championship! I'm proud to say two of my boys are on that team!
Yeah my boys initialy complained abit they couldn't shot there recurves but applied what they already knew from instinctive shooting to turn in some good scores!
Anytime you can introduce kids to archery it's a great thing!
As said above a great program...
We support it here at our club also and we see kids getting started with archery.
The best part is on kids day some of us show up to help and the kids start to ask what we all shoot. Well we get the comments of "oh all of the old stuff". But for some silly reason they give it a try.
Well for the rest of the day most of the "new stuff sits on the rack....
All we know is greatfun had by all...
Later.....Buzz
I smile every time I see the scores reported in our local newspaper. All archery is good. The youngsters involved are not likely to become anti-hunters, either.
Fantastic. Getting kids into archery of any kind has no ill effects. I applaud those who have taken their time to create and maintain this program.
I think Morning Star said it best. :thumbsup:
I think it is a great idea. I would even go as far to say the Genisis bow is a good choice. There is no let off on a Genesis bow, however addional energy can be stored in the cam. A little guy in forth grade can get decent arrow trajectory out of a 10 pound bow and is not overburdened by the size of the bow. One instrucor (who usually transports the equipment from school to school in a district) the can use the same bows from elementary all the way to high school because no draw length adjustments are needed from archer to archer and the exact same size bow can be used for all students (well except if the student draws over 30"). Often times the instructor also owns the equipment which he can also personally use to instruct 4-H, boyscouts, personal instruction courses, etc.
I agree that any archery (whhels or not) is good for youth involvement. Our trad group in NJ supports many schools NASP programs. I'm actually considering going for the instructor course to get certified so I can try to impliment a program into our locals schools. I would love to be involved in something like that.
"no archery involved" WOW, I find that statement to be so unbelievable! I guess it proves that some of us are own worse enemies.
This program gets the kids, many of whom would not get introduced to it otherwise, started on the basics of archery. They do not use sights, releases and the bows do not have a "wall" or "let-off". I do not know what could be bad about that.
The local elementary team has shot good enough to make it to the Nationals 2 years in a row. Next year my daughter will be old enough to take part in the program and I wil be proud to have her participating in it.
Our club here in Kansas strongly supports the program. Recently, they held a state tournament in Hays, which was won by our local middle school. (Clearwater) Coach Moore said it is amazing to watch the kids really get in to shooting. According to him, most of these kids would not be involved in school activities if it weren't for archery. Personally, I strongly endorse the program
It is a great program. ANYTHING that promotes hunting as fun or in a good light to kids and their parents is a VERY good thing. We all need to support programs that get our youth thinking outdoors. I think we can forget that many kids get no exposure to our lifestyle whatsoever. Just because we teach our families the lifestyle doesn't mean "Matt & Mary" have ever learned anything about it. If this gets them inti it great, but like stated, it may keep them from being antis as well. I to started with wheels and at age 40 finally took them off. Love archery more than ever.
I don't know the details of the program but I suspect it is better than what is done for archery in our school district as I suspect that beyond the equipment -- there is also some curriculum.
In our high school gym class for one of the they "events" they get to shoot arrows from old recurves. My son, who knows how to shoot, says it is a mess. The bows are junk, no form is taught, and kids just fling arrows with no feedback for several days. I offered to lend the class some of my bows and to come and help with the session, but was turned down. So there you have it, the type of bow doesn't make it better. :-(
So yeah, I am all for NASP.
It's a very good program. Our club is also involved and like anything else we just get out of it what's put into it.
We also have family and kids days where we help anyone who would like to take up archery at our club.
I enjoy traditional but wheels or not, it's all good.
QuoteOriginally posted by Morning Star:
Anytime you can put a bow in a kid's hand is a good thing. This program brings them to more kids than any other.
As far as "no archery involved". The Genesis bows operate without letoff and draw length adjustments, so I fail to see how the process of shooting is any different than a traditional bow.
Like many of us here, I only needed the fire to be lit with a compound.
I agree 100%, granted the Genesis bows aren't the best thing out there but for what they are made for they do work beautifully.
I help teach archery courses from time to time with a instructor friend of mine & the NASP program does exactly what it's designed for, bring new kids to the sport of archery but like my friend & I emphasize on is that if the individule want's to persue archery further then proper fitting of a better bow is a requirement to get that person shooting properly for the long haul.
Many of us Trad shooters came from the wheels be it a nitch to them or a passion all together but the NASP really puts the spark in there for the person to take further.
I guess I'm just an old trad fuddy duddy, but when I was a kid in grade school we had lemonwood longbows and wood arrows. We shot outside at round target butts in gym class (another long gone item in most school systems).
Compton does not sponsor wheel bows in the schools.
If there is "no let off" on a Genesis bow, then what are the wheels for?
Maybe we should take personal responsibility and - Each One Reach One, Each One Teach One!
I think the cool techie nature of the Mathews Genesis will make more kids want to shoot. As they get older and learn more about archery they will decide if they want to shoot "training wheels" or traditional. In the mean time, they have a bow in their hands and they are enjoying the art of archery.
I think that's a BFD (as the Vice President would say).
QuoteOriginally posted by Shaun:
If there is "no let off" on a Genesis bow, then what are the wheels for?
Hi Shaun!
Although there is no let off and no draw length, there is a cam that does store additional energy. The "wheels" also keep the draw weight consistant thoughout the draw. If it's set for 15#'s say, it is 15#'s at 20" and 15#'s at 30". Not saying I love the bow, but it sure seems practical for what the program uses it for. It would seem to be a much easier sell to the school district knowing a 4th grader or 12th grader could use the same bow without any adjustments at all.
QuoteOriginally posted by crotch horn:
It is a great program. ANYTHING that promotes hunting as fun or in a good light to kids and their parents is a VERY good thing. We all need to support programs that get our youth thinking outdoors.
Thats the beauty of the program is that it does not introduce hunting, but the sport of archery.
One note: I agree that getting a bow into the kids hands is great, even a wheel bow. I host a shoot on Labor Day and we use Genesis bows borrowed from a large NASP school in Galesburgh. The people who help me are all wheel bow shooters with a lot of experience and good instructors. Even get a couple of pro shooters from Hoyt and PSE. Would be nice if I could get more trad shooters there.
Back to NASP. The one down side is that they need a sponsor (teacher). The teacher does not have to know how to shoot a bow. In our local school, the gym teacher has never shot a bow. The kids have fun but they get a bit bored or frustrated because they don't progress. Seems like the program is going to die because of that.
NASP should have a qualified instructor. Where it does, it's great
Sam
I teach NASP at the small elementary school where I am the gym teacher. I enjoy it but I'm always ready for the unit to be done after the 2 weeks. I do it with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. There is one of me and an average of 26 kids in the class. Stressful to say the least. The genesis bows allow the kids to have success and fun right away. I always bring in a selfbow, longbow and a recurve and do a shooting demo for the kids to show them the traditional side of it. This year I dazzled the kids by breaking balloons at 12 meters while laying on my back.
The best thing we can do as a traditional community to promote traditional equiptment is to volunteer in the NASP program to help the teacher with safety and instruction and ask for a chance to demonstrate our bows. You can also volunteer to help with maintance of equipment. This is a very expensive unit if you have to hire pro shops to refletch arrows, reserve strings, etc.
Yes, I wish the NASP program consisted of stickbows but what traditional bow company would be willing to donate thousands of bows at cost so the schools could afford it? NASP is growing by leaps and bounds, join in and take the opportunity to show the kids that there is life beyond the compound.
Sam, some teachers use NASP as an introductory to archery. They have a small unit where the kids get exposure to the sport. Others are more into it (they are archers themselves most likely) and take it to another level where they have an after school program and they compete on the local, state, and even national level. It is all good. My program falls somewhere in between. Anybody can get certified through NASP and with approval from the school, coach an after school program. Maybe your local school could use someone to take the program under it's wing and expand it?
Chad
I run a NASP program as an afterschool archery program for the parks department I work at. It is getting a lot of kids involved in archery. How can that be a bad thing?
QuoteOriginally posted by Ssamac:
Back to NASP. The one down side is that they need a sponsor (teacher). The teacher does not have to know how to shoot a bow. In our local school, the gym teacher has never shot a bow. The kids have fun but they get a bit bored or frustrated because they don't progress. Seems like the program is going to die because of that.
NASP should have a qualified instructor. Where it does, it's great
Sam
Gotta agree with that. My son is in that predicament right now. The school program is split between boys and girls (not coed) and the girls are taking their turn right now. Neither the men's or women's PE teacher has experience except for this portion of PE. Luckily, my son was eager to get his own certification however he had to wait till his 15th birthday (required minimum age). Two weeks ago he was sucessful in passing the education, shooting and test and is now certified. The teachers are now asking him for help and assistance. He is also allowed to bring his own bow which most definetely better then the equipment on hand.
I run an archery club at my high school. We shoot a few times a year (weather and time permitting) using the NASP Genesis bows. The kids are taught the instinctive method and I am a stickler on encouraging them to focus on their form. The bow are perfect because they do allow weight adjustment and consistency of grip. IMHO, shooting a bow with no let-off, no sights, with fingers is more-or-less traditional, nes ce pas? Is 'traditional' about the bow or the method? I guess that's the question. IMHO, traditional is about the mentality and method of hunting, not the bow in hand. An instinctively shot bow with fingers, proper respect for the sport complete with hours logged of practice, and respect for the game tend to define traditional archery for me... so, regardless, I find NASP essential in maintaining the sport! Plus how many of us started on the compound and made a switch or shoot both? Kids shooting any bow any way equals a win for archery :)
I hear you. A number of us have volunteered, most a lot more qualified than me since they have been intructors for years, but the School Supt only permits certified teachers to be in the school programs. That goes for baseball, basketball etc.
Net result of this is that they have hired some very poor teachers who are excellent basketball coaches and vice versa. I applaud this gym teacher for doing as much as she can and getting the program started and getting herself licensed to teach this as part of gym class. Many of us chipped in to cover the cost. (There's a matching fund for this). But this could get a lot farther if there were an experienced instructor who could show the kids how to shoot, identify form issues, etc.
But sure better than not having the program at all.
sam
ALL for archery in the schools, wheelie bow or traditional. Archery with any bow is better than the gun he could be holding hanging with the wrong club outside of school.
It is a great program. I am trained and run it as a club for my 7th and 8th graders (I am not a phys. ed teacher). The genesis bows with the wheels store more energy for the draw weight and give a faster flatter arrow flight, giving a quicker level of success and satisfaction. I have also been supplementing with trad bows, but only the older bows can draw bows that give the same speed as the mathews do at less weight. No sights and finger release still teach the fundamentals of form, and the kids love to try the trad equipment. Any one we can bite with teh archery bug is a good addition.
just a quick note about NASP. this weekend in Louisville, KY they are having the NASP national tournament. 7600 kids are preregistered. how can that be bad for anything. people volunteering to run the tournament, schools accepting archery in today's society, parents supporting a shooting sport, and thousands of kids introduced to archery. just let the arrows fly.
Quotejust a quick note about NASP. this weekend in Louisville, KY they are having the NASP national tournament. 7600 kids are preregistered. how can that be bad for anything. people volunteering to run the tournament, schools accepting archery in today's society, parents supporting a shooting sport, and thousands of kids introduced to archery. just let the arrows fly.
That's what I'm talking about! Nice. NASP is promoted/supported by my State bowhunting association. I think every State association should have NASP on their agenda.
I always do my best to reach out and help kids and others get a foothold in archery. I think we all should. But, this program reaches so many more.
I'd like to see it embraced by every school in the country. I wish they'd had it when I was in school. Any time you can get a bow (wheels or not) in the hands of kids it has to be a good thing.
I see this program as a huge boost to hunting....the number of young hunters has dropped and the number of kids indictrinated into the anti hunting group has increased. Even if every kid doesnt decide to hunt with a bow maybe they won't be against it. My daughter started on a Genesis bow and loved it...but she wanted a bow like dad shoots....now she shoots recurve.
I just got back from the NASP Nationals in KY.
My youngest sister and her team shot yesterday.
Never saw so many kids and bows in my life.
345 targets lined up; 7110 kids shooting in 1 day!!!
All in all a very good idea IMO! But as said above, I think the captains/sponsors should HAVE to have som archery know-how; some of the school teams were very under-coached and the kids could feel it. On the biggest stage of their young lives, so far, some teams were taking their practice shots alone with their coaches talking on phones and not paying any attention. But the teams that had "into-it" coaches were alot more successfull from what I could see.
There was even at least 1 team from Alaska!!
The Genesis bows are a good choice for a school program----limited funds, time, etc..... 1 bow for all draw-lengths without adjustment and consistent # at each draw. All kids can be coached the same and when it comes to a tournament---no 1 school gets an advantage because they have more money to spend on better bows.
Get the kids into archery-----they'll be too busy for drugs and trouble!! :readit:
I was told when we tried to donate some Primal Dreams DVD that NASP are not realy allowed to teach or talk much about hunting formally, but on the side and after class the instructors can point the kids who ask about hunting in the right direction. Our condensed edition of PD is perfect for that, so some intructors lend out copies after class. If nothing else it lets the kids know its OK to hunt regardless if they are ever given the opportunity. Mike
Mike, that may be the case in your state or local school district, I don't know. That is not the case in MN however. Any message about not talking about hunting hasn't been portrayed in any way in the training or communication we have had.
Our program is administered through the State DNR and they have a big push toward hunter recruitment at a young age right now.
We sometimes shoot at animal targets for fun. Of course I teach at a rural school and no doubt that makes a difference. Chad
ELDON IOWA
What sport can have a 4th-grade girl standing next to a 12th-grade boy, they are members of the same team, and neither one has a distant advantage over the other?
If you guessed archery, you are correct.
At the Cardinal Schools, their archery team consists of 94 members ranging from 4th graders to seniors in high school.
While in competition, they split up into three different age brackets, elementary (4th-6th grades), middle (7th and 8th grades), and high school (9th-12th grades), but the team practices as one.
The team shares more in common than just practices, they share a distinct title: State Champions.
The Cardinal Schools recently swept the Iowa State Tournament in Archery taking first in the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
:archer2: Kids with any bow is good medicine.
Great way to get young people involved in the outdoors. As for the Genesis Bows being used, it produces great performance for all sizes of youth and is very easy to shoot. The easier it is for youth to grasp archery, the most likely chance they will keep an interest in it. Super way to teach our youth concentration/patience and hand/eye motor skills. Hope this program eventually grows into something that all schools can participate in.
QuoteOriginally posted by sunshine:
just a quick note about NASP. this weekend in Louisville, KY they are having the NASP national tournament. 7600 kids are preregistered. how can that be bad for anything. people volunteering to run the tournament, schools accepting archery in today's society, parents supporting a shooting sport, and thousands of kids introduced to archery. just let the arrows fly.
I believe it's the 22nd and 23rd of March.
http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/nasp2010statetournament.pdf
This was the National tournament Tom, it was yesterday and today. What you are looking at is the state tournament. Saw the results on FB last night and it looked like Kentucky was doing quite well.
I have talked to several parents of kids involved in the program who now become interested in archery themselves.
I think its wonderful no matter what they shoot. My daughter placed in top 12 for girls last yr @ tournament!
Mr Vic are you in Eldon? My sons played ball against Cardinal. Nice little town. Are you coming to the shoot in Nauvoo on Labor day weekend?
sam
Chad- I'm glad it seems they are allowing talk about hunting now. I called the national chairman about 5 years ago, and yes he said the reason they didn't want the archery program linked to hunting was because of the huge urban schools. So now it seems it may be a local thing and state wildlife agencies are involved in many areas. Sounds good. If any of the NASP instructors on here want to contact me about copies of Primal Dreams condensed version, please feel free to do so. Thanks, Mike
I worked the NASP nationals this weekend, 7,125 kids were involved from 34 states and while somewhat stressful at times, I'll probably volunteer every year I can. Seen a young lady shoot a 294 out of the possible 300, it was her first year in the program! There was a 3d range set up by Rhinehart and had a line all weekend, the kids loved it! Also had a bowfishing range, so I do not think they are trying to keep hunting out of it. Anyone that gets the chance to help should, the kids having fun and competing on a level playing field is well worth the vacation day I had to take to help out.
Darrell
Thanks for all of the great feedback on the program.
In my opinion the National Archery in the Schools Program will only help us in traditional archery. The young people in that program today are the future for us in the years to come.
I would realy like to see every national,state, and local club and orginization do what ever they can to help it now to secure our privleges in the future.
Tim
I too have just returned from the nationals in Louisville. What a great event!!!! Billed as the largest archery tournament in HISTORY and it was.
To those that disparage the Genesis as a "wheel" bow, go do some homework and find out about it. As has been pointed out many times here it has a universal draw length, no wall and adjustable draw weights from about 10 to 20 pounds which remain constant--no let off or build up. At 20# it throws an arrow roughly equivalent to a 35# trad bow. It is the best beginner's and instructional bow that has ever been produced. Reduce the draw weight to work on form then increase it to get performance.
Here's one for you - if you don't know. An eleven year old here in Minnesota won the overall state tournament. She is in 6th grade and was able to out point ALL the girls in the state 4th grade through 12 grade. She is the youngest to ever win the Minn. State tournament and from what I can find, it looks as though she's the youngest to win in ANY state since the program started. This would be equivalent to a 6th grade boy's basketball team winning your state's AAA state tournament. What other sport levels the playing field so drastically?
I do agree that the level of training given to most of the school coaches is rudimentary at best and there is MUCH room for improvement in this area. But most of the "BAI" basic archery instructors are volunteers and they are doing the best they can. I offer an "intermediate" archery class in the summers at our club for any NASP student that has at least one year of the school program. In this course we work on proper form and refining what they get in school.
NASP is currently found in 46 states and four foreign countries. It has been in existence only since 2002. What other program has been so successful recently that isn't found in front of a computer screen of some sort?
Get out and get involved!
NASP started March 3, 2002 in 21 schools. Today, the program teaches archery to 1.5 million kids per year in 7,361 schools in 5 countries (46 states and 4 provinces). Massachusetts begins the program next week as 47th state. New Brunswick will becoe 5th province on July 29th (God willing). These kids learn the process of shooting that most of us on this site could only wish we had learned so many years ago. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association archery participation grew 7.7% last year. This is 29 times faster growth than the average of the 8 prior years! Teaching archery, of any style to millions of children can only strengthen the future of the shooting sports and oh, the kids love it and so do their teachers who report better grades, attendance, behavior, and self-esteem among the students. Most of these kids will never know target panic because they are being taught better than most of us learned on our own or from our friends. Yep, I just returned from the nationals. There were 7,125 students registered and 6,874 showed up -- the largest archery tournament in world history. 137 people, many bowhunters from traditional clubs worked very hard to run the event. NASP has certified more than 16,000 teachers to teach NASP-style archery. 77% of NASP students had never shot a bow before NASP. If you want to know how you can help, send me a personal message please.
I think it is a great program.It seems to be getting bigger here in Bama.
25 states have more than 105 schools in NASP now. Alabama is among these -- 404 schools trained but only 201 schools equipped to teach the program. NASP is operated, under a letter of agreement with NASP, by the state fish and wildlife agency in 44 of the 46 NASP states. The program is run by a NASP-certified volunteer in Washington and Oregon. While every person on the team that founded NASP is an avid hunter, and most are bowhunters it was decided to keep bowhunting messages out of the training so biased adults in some school districts wouldn't prevent kids from having access to archery. NASP's philosophy is to teach target archery to millions of students and let them decide, what, if anything to do with these skills. NASP is a 501 c. (3) foundation. www.archeryintheschools.org (http://www.archeryintheschools.org)
Gonna say it again: :bigsmyl:
When I was down this weekend, watching my sister's team---and ended up being asked to help with some tips and coaching------you wouldn't believe how many of the kids in her team and some other's who were around listening, were very interested in the fact that I shot a "plain" bow and even had made a few. The interest is definitely piqued-----whether for trad. or wheelies-----when it comes to kids: it ALL good!
I went to Louisville and was amazed at the amount of kids. They were well behaved and having a blast. It was ran very smoothly and on time. They did a great job. Anytime you can get a bow in a kids hand is good in my opinion. NASP is a great program.