April 6, 2018 at 12:02 p.m.
YMCA of the Northwoods archery program gaining momentum
YMCA of the Northwoods archery program gaining momentum
By Kayla Thomason-
A progressive archery training program began in September 2016 and a competitive archery program was added in January 2018.
The progressive class teaches archery basics and students train under the NASP rules. This class meets Mondays at 4:30 p.m. The competitive team class is similar to the progressive class, but takes it a step further to get the students ready for tournament competition. They meet Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m.
"Currently we have capped the program at 15 kids, however if the program continues to grow we may look at adding additional days to allow us to take more participants," said the YMCA's Aquatics, Youth and Family Director Matt Steingraber.
The progressive program costs $15 for Y members and $35 for the general public. The competitive program is $30 for Y members and $70 for the general public.
These programs are available to children, however, there is a separate progressive program for adults on Mondays at 11 a.m.
Children in the YMCA's competitive archery program competed for the first time Feb. 17.
The children who participated were Kale Hartzke, an eighth-grader who posted a score of 247, and Ava Krouze, a sixth-grader who posted a score of 253 (which is 16 points higher than her previous best, this also placed her in sixth place out of 20 girls).
A third child, a sixth-grader in the female division, was ill and unable to attend.
"This was a learning experience for both archers," Steingraber said. "It was the first time they have ever seen 40 archers shooting at once. In our gym the most that we can have shoot at one time currently is 10 archers. I think they had a little nerves that day but have since learned from the experience and continued to improve in practice."
In the competition, each archer can receive a maximum of 300 points per competition. The target has rings, with the furthest outside ring being worth one point, the second furthest is two and so on until it reaches the bull's-eye, which is 10 points.
"Each archer will shoot five arrows during each set," Steingraber explained. "There is six total sets. Three sets at 10 meters followed by three sets at 15 meters. A total of 30 arrows are shot with each being worth 1 to 10 points."
The students use Genesis Original bows, as that is the only model allowed in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP). This particular model is used in over 13,000 schools and by over 2 million students across the nation.
The students also use the 30-inch aluminum Easton XX75 Genesis Arrow, which is the only NASP-approved arrow for children competing in archery.
"I would like to throw in a big thank you to our coaches Allen Raub, Laurie Beilen, and John Nevins, along with our adult program coaches Jim Sarkauskas and Bruce Kohn," Steingraber said. "We are also looking into a date to train new coaches in the NASP curriculum."
For more information about the archery program contact Steingraber at 715-362-9622.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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