This time around was no different as a total of 875 archers from throughout the province took part in two days of competition to determine the best elementary, middle school and high school archers in Saskatchewan.
“It’s actually expanded,” said Doug Gibson, the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation National Archery in Schools Program co-ordinator. “With all the kids and their parents, we probably had around 4,000 people come through the doors this weekend. So we’re seeing some pretty good numbers right now.”
The NASP is a curriculum based program for students from Grades 4 to 12, offering an in-school set of classes built around the sport of archery.
“Obviously when they’re in Grade 4 they’re just learning and by the time they hit high school they’re seriously competing… there’s just something about archery where they kids just love it and the parents love watching it, too,” Gibson said.
The idea is to expose youngsters to the sport as much as possible, with the aim of ideally leading to a lifelong love of bows and arrows, whether that means just target shooting or heading out hunting.
“For some of them, it does, for sure,” Gibson said. “And as part of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation we’d like to see that happen. We’re more or less here to promote archery in general, whether it’s shooting paper, shooting 3D or hunting, it’s all just getting them out, getting them off the electronics, get them outside and in the gym shooting, that kind of thing.
“Our big thing is to get people involved.”
Students who stick with the NASP program can become Academic Archers, which rewards competitors with prizes and scholarships for top performances at each level of schooling
“So if you get a kid from Grade 9 who sticks with it through Grade 12 and does well, they could have a pretty good chunk of change for their post-secondary education,” Gibson said.
All in all, seeing the sport of archery develop and expand in the province has been nothing but positive in Gibson’s opinion.
“Some of the kids don’t do anything else,” he said. “You’re standing on the line running the range and you see a kid flinging arrows, and you know that kids doesn’t do anything else at the school, and when they hit a nine or a 10 they get pretty excited.
“That makes me happy as a co-ordinator because the kids are having fun for all the right reasons.
Results for local competitors are as follows: (placing, name, school, score).
3D Shoot High School Male
23. Jacob Gyman, Riverview, 219
23. Cail Moore, Riverview , 219
28. Daulton Johnston, Riverview, 214
34. Jonah Savage, Riverview, 199
35. Brayden Lucher, Riverview, 197
3D Shoot High School Female
29. Sophie Thompson, Riverview, 102
3D Shoot Middle School Boys
31. Gus Wood, Westmount, 207
35. Kegan Riench, Empire, 201
36. Edward McCheane, Empire, 201
37. Tucker Chapman, Westmount, 199
40. Hurley Ruston, Empire, 198
57. Paris Belisle, Westmount, 161
61. Aragorn Smith, Empire, 141
64. Dana Moore, Empire, 122
3D Shoot Middle School Girls
12. Tawney Moggey, Empire, 237
26. Alyssa Hood-Thomas, Empire, 193
39. Tyra Usher-Cox, Empire, 174
Target High School Male
53. Cole Jones, Riverview, 238
58. Cail Moore, Riverview , 233
76. Brayden Lucher, Riverview, 224
78. Daulton Johnston, Riverview, 222
90. Jonah Savage, Riverview, 214
104. Jacob Gyman, Riverview, 182
Target High School Female
80. Sophie Thompson, Riverview, 158
Target Middle School Boys
41. Hurley Ruston, Empire, 237
93. Tucker Chapman, Westmount, 205
96. Gus Wood, Westmount, 204
104. Edward McCheane, Empire, 193
124. Paris Belisle, Westmount, 176
127. Aragorn Smith, Empire, 159
131. Kegan Riench, Empire, 158
139. Dana Moore, Empire, 139
Target Middle School Girls
37. Tawney Moggey, Empire, 225
73. Tyra Usher-Cox, empire, 192
97. Alyssa Hood-Thomas, Empire, 170
