Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Indiana S3DA Implements Same Day/Multiple Venue Tournament Format

Williamsburg, KY – With the tremendous growth of the S3DA program, the National Headquarters has called for a model in which more than one tournament is held on the same day at different regional locations in a specific state. Indiana S3DA has become a pacesetter in this aspect by implementing a schedule utilizing a North, Central, and Southern tournament format. Indiana saw the need for this division to continue growing the program. They realized that growth would have been stifled due to limited space as most of their available venues in the state are only 14 to 26 lanes.

In 2018 the largest regional that Indiana had was 240 kids. On January 5th, utilizing the three-region format, 266 students participated. Tournament venues included: Perry’s Archery in Hartford City, IN; Danville Armory hosted by Pinehill in Danville, IN; and Blackhawk Bowhunters in Boonville, IN. One of the staunchest opponents to this format was a coach who originally didn’t like the idea because he could not see how it was benefitting the students. However, after seeing it in action, he now concedes that it’s a great idea. He knows that by doing it this way students who would not have had an opportunity to have a podium finish against nearly 300 archers are now being able to podium and consequently have more drive to better themselves. This format has also cut down on travel time and expense for the families. They are now having to travel at most a couple hours instead of the 4 to 5 hours from last year.

S3DA Executive Director Jennie Richardson had this to say, “I’m really proud of Greg Ashley and the entire Indiana staff for stepping up and being a pace setter for our program, the S3DA students and families. Indiana has put the interests of our student members and families in front of everything else and will be setting an example that the rest of our state chapters will be following once they meet a growth threshold like Indiana did last year with some of their indoor events being at 90-95% capacity. Many of the venues that our tournaments are held in will simply not be large enough as our program continues to grow. One of the concerns that we have heard is our families really have a hard time traveling the 4-6 hours to some of the regional events, so naturally this format is better for everyone by bringing events closer to our communities. This is a perfect solution, a win/win for everyone and a model that S3DA will be instrumenting nationwide. Great Job Indiana!”

Started in December 2012 by the Scholastic Archery Association, S3DA has grown exponentially as a next step program to follow introductory programs offered as part of 4-H or the National Archery in Schools Program. S3DA addresses the need for a program to bridge beginning target archery experience and more advanced activities such as 3-D shooting and bowhunting. The program currently operates across the United States with hundreds of certified coaches serving

thousands of young archers, grades 3–12.

For more information on S3DA membership go to: WWW.S3DA.ORG or email: infos3darchery@gmail.com

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