Students take aim at national archery championships

The fourth annual National Archery in the Schools Program national championship is underway at the Expo Centre, with 1,800 students competing.

Students from grades 3 to 12 are competing from four different provinces, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.

"They are meeting kids from other schools that are in the same interest, and that is archery," said Dave Paplawski, with the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors' Association.

"They talk archery and they talk their scores and they talk what they do. And they just have fun, and that is the key."

Flights of 80 archers every hour for three days will be aiming for top scores.

They shoot 40 arrows, 10 practice and 30 in competition, at two different distances — 10 metres and 15 metres from the target.

The national competition is organized by the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors' Association.  The bows are designed for ease of use so all students can compete.

NASP began in Kentucky in 2001 as a joint-venture between the departments of Fish and Wildlife and Education. It has spread into an international organization.

Alberta has 30,000 student archers registered with NASP.