Statewide archery tournament, Feb. 24

For students, March 7 in Albany: Register for NASP tournament until Feb. 29 – SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon National Archery in Schools program (NASP) will hold its state tournament on March 7, 2020 in Albany at the Linn County Expo Center. Doors open at 8:30 a.m., and the competition or First Flight starts at 9 a.m., with the Second Flight at 10:30 a.m., and the Third Flight at 12 p.m. Awards will be presented after the final flight.  More than 140 archers from throughout the state are currently registered to compete in the state tournament with space available for more participants. Registration remains open through Feb. 29. “This tournament has many benefits for students including the chance to compete as both an individual and on a team and to make new friends from around the state of Oregon” says Stephanie Rustad, ODFW archery education coordinator. “Participants also have the chance to earn scholarships and become eligible to compete at NASP Western Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 24th and 25th,” added Rustad. The tournament is open to students in the 4th through 12th grades and the archer only needs to attend a NASP participating school to be able to compete. A NASP participating school completes 10 hours of in-school archery instruction each year. Oregon currently has 160 schools that are active NASP participants and thousands of students that are able to try archery in-school each year. Each archer will compete with an Original Genesis bow without sights and Genesis arrows, creating an even playing field for all archers. If the school has enough archers, the students can compete as a team as well as individually. A team is 12 to 24 archers from the same grade division: elementary, middle or high. The archery instructor at that school will be able to register students until Feb. 29 at www.nasptournaments.org. Registration fee to compete is $35. The public is invited to view the event and there is no entrance fee. Archery instructors are encouraged to attend the tournament with their students to support them and provide any assistance that is needed. However, if the coach is unable to attend, then accommodations can be made for a NASP student to attend on their own. NASP is an in-school program aimed at improving educational performance among students in grades 4-12. Students learn focus, self-control, discipline, patience and the life lessons required to be successful in the classroom and in life.  To learn more about the youth archery programs in Oregon, please visit www.myodfw.com/odfwarchery