Schedule a NASP Training Session For the Upcoming School Year Now!

WHAT IS NASP?

The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) brings the sport of archery to millions of students in schools across the United States. Designed to teach international-style target archery in 4th-12th grades, the core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, and self-improvement. The 2-week archery curriculum is aligned to National Physical Education Standards and can be run safely in a school gymnasium. No prior archery experience is necessary for teachers or students.

CHANGING LIVES ONE ARROW AT A TIME…

Many of the activities in physical education classes favor the strongest, fastest, and most coordinated students. Archery is a life-long sport that circumvents traditional barriers to engage students of all genders, physical abilities, and backgrounds, even aiding participation in students with disabilities. Archery is a physical activity in which boys and girls can participate together and puts athletes and non-athletes on a level playing field.

The National Archery in the Schools Program routinely transforms previously unreachable "high risk" students by unlocking self-esteem and transforming individual lives forever.

NASP Promotional Video

WHY NASP WORKS

Nearly everyone can succeed at archery. Kids love archery, and archery helps kids excel. Statistics show that school archery programs:

• Improve school attendance
• Increase self-esteem
• Increase physical activity
• Relate to subject matter
• Appeal to all students
• Get kids out-of-doors
• Can become an after-school activity

WHO PARTICIPATES IN NASP? In the 2011-2012 school year, approximately 2,055,000 students participated in NASP throughout the country. That involves more children than Little League baseball and is three times larger than lacrosse! NASP has taught target archery to more than 9.5 million students in 47 states and continues to grow. In New Jersey, teachers in more than 100 schools have been trained to conduct NASP archery in physical education classes. Additionally, summer camps, recreational programs, and scout organizations are using NASP archery throughout the state. The map shows the extent NASP has spread across New Jersey - there's probably a school or organization near you already using the program. See the list of New Jersey schools participating in NASP to locate a school near you already benefitting from the program. Participating NASP Schools and Organizations (pdf, 53kb)

NASP Locations Click to enlarge

2013 VIRTUAL STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

In late winter, 2013, New Jersey hosted the first Virtual NASP State Tournament with more than 100 students throughout the state participating. Each participating school hosted an in-house tournament and submitted scores via e-mail. The first place schools in the Elementary, Middle, and High School divisions qualified to attend the NASP National Tournament in Kentucky in May. In addition, the top five male and female individual archers in each division also qualify for nationals if they do not attend with their school team.

Congratulations to all archers who participated in the 2013 Virtual State Tournament! We are proud to announce the final results:

• 1st Place Elementary School Team: Angelo L. Tomaso School, Warren Township
• 1st Place Middle School Team: Oxford Central School, Oxford Township
• 1st Place High School Team: Warren Hills High School, Warren Hills
• Top Female Archer in New Jersey: Jenna Ischinger from Warren Hills High School with a score of 287
• Top Male Archer in New Jersey: Danny Farkas from Warren Hills High School with a score of 282

Sometimes the cost of the required equipment has been an obstacle to schools interested in the program. That obstacle has been removed by a recent grant from the Easton Sports Development Foundation, which paid for 21 NASP archery equipment sets for New Jersey. Since fall of 2008, schools in every county have had access to a NASP equipment loaner kit, free of charge. This an excellent no-cost way for teachers to introduce archery into their physical education curriculum.

IS ARCHERY SAFE?

Archery's safety record is better than that of every ball sport taught in schools except table tennis. Equipment used is state-of-the-art and a universal fit so every student can safely use the same bows and arrows.

For further details on target archery's safety records, read Arrow Sport's Safety Report (pdf, 430kb).

HOW DO I GET NASP IN MY SCHOOL?

Every school participating in the National Archery in the Schools Program must have at least one certified Basic Archery Instructor (BAI). BAI courses are generally 8 hours long, scheduled upon request at your convenience, and held at your school gymnasium.

Once a teacher has completed the BAI certification requirements, they receive a certification card with their personal BAI number. Using this number, their school is eligible to purchase equipment at a discounted rate from the National Archery in the Schools Program. This equipment is required to participate in the NASP program and state, national, and world tournaments. Certified Basic Archery Instructors also have access to the loaner equipment kits provided free of charge by NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. The Division provides training, as well as training materials, free of charge to schools participating in the program.

READY TO GET STARTED?

Contact us via phone (908-735-2006) or e-mail to schedule a Basic Archery Instructor training at your school or for more information on the National Archery in the Schools Program:

Melissa Woerner - Melissa.Woerner@dep.state.nj.us
Wayne Tonnesen - Wayne.Tonnesen@dep.state.nj.us

Also, check out NJEA's Classroom Close-up feature on Oxford Central School's archery team, which has been New Jersey's top-rated archery school team since 2006. The seven-time state champions, will be heading to the NASP National Tournament in Kentucky in May.

Oxford Central School's 2013 NASP Archery Team
Click to enlarge

NASP GRANTS

Easton Foundations repeated their participation in the national equipment grants program in 2012. New Jersey was awarded $6,000 to provide grants to new National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) schools for the purchase of archery equipment. New Jersey was able to award six $1000 grants towards the purchase of an archery equipment kit to the following newly enrolled NASP schools:

• American Christian School in Succasunna
• Tuckerton Elementary School in Tuckerton
• Angelo L. Tomaso School in Warren
• Eagleswood Elementary School in West Creek
• All Saints Regional Catholic School in Manahawkin
• County Prep High School in Jersey City

Congratulations to these programs for being awarded equipment grants this year. Hopefully the grants will continue to be funded and we will be able to offer them again next year!

NASP NEWSLETTERS

November 2012: Need to borrow archery equipment?; Welcome new instructors; Summer NASP programs; NASP world tournament; Archery equipment grants awarded (pdf, 140kb)

September 2012: Welcome back, teachers; Online resources; Need to borrow archery equipment?; Games and drills to spice up your archery unit; Schedule your BAI training now (pdf, 140kb)

August 2012: London 2012 Olympics Recap; Equipment grants available; Schedule your BAI training now (pdf, 175kb)

July 2012: Are you participating in NASP?; Welcome new instructors; A brief history of NASP in NJ (pdf, 140kb)

May 2012: New NASP coordinators; NASP national competition; Equipment ordering (pdf, 130kb)