The Archery Trade Association will provide at least $225,000 in matching grants during the 2004-05 school year to launch archery curriculums for youths in at least 15 states, primarily through the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) that began two years ago in Kentucky. Grants will also go to states that sign “memorandums of understanding,” or MOUs, with the ATA.

As part of the National Archery in the Schools Program, Mathews Inc. and ESPN Sports joined forces in May 2004 to launch archery classes at four middle schools in or near Madison, Wis. Each school then sent 10 young archers to compete in a tournament during the ESPN Great Outdoor Games in July at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center.

The ATA’s board approved the grants at its early-August meeting in Atlanta. The grants will help purchase archery training kits and instruct teachers how to provide quality lessons to students. In addition, the money will match $100,000 contributions from Mathews Inc. and the National Wild Turkey Federation. The program also receives equipment donations from Easton/TruFlite arrows, FieldLogic targets, Rhinehart targets and Pape’s Archery.

“This agreement with ATA greatly accelerates our ability to expand the National Archery in the Schools Program across the country,” said Roy Grimes, who directs the NASP in his role as principle assistant to the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “When you can call another fish and wildlife agency to tell them about a program that provides free training and equipment, it’s not difficult for them to come on board. The future looks very bright for the National Archery in the Schools Program.”

Grimes said the grants will launch 10 pilot programs per state in a minimum of 15 states. He said 29 states were already committed to the NASP as of mid-August. Among the new states likely to be chosen for the pilot program are Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina.

“These grants will bring archery to many schools much sooner than would ever have been possible before,” Grimes said. “Our goal for NASP was to have 30 states participating within five years, and we’ve almost reached that goal in two years. We hope to have 45 to 50 states in the program by the end of 2006.”

ATA Board Chair Erik Watts of Easton Technical Products said the board is impressed with the NASP, and hopes to support all states that provide archery programs in their schools. “We want to cast as broad a net as possible to introduce kids to archery and develop it into a lifelong interest,” Watts said. “The board believes NASP is the program with the potential to reach more kids than any other program out there. No matter who you talk to, everyone agrees NASP has the most potential to get archery going.”

Watts and fellow board member Laverne Woock of Delta Industries said ATA grants are considered seed money, and a first crucial step in growing archery. The next step is for the industry to develop a national network and Web site to connect new archers to local pro shops, archery leagues, advanced lessons, and after-school initiatives like the Junior Olympics Archery Development program.

Besides NASP, the ATA also designated grant money for wildlife agencies in Ohio and Arizona. Both states have signed MOUs with the ATA to aid their archery-development projects. A third state is also expected to receive an ATA grant once both parties settle on an MOU.

“The MOUs are a mechanism for us to work with the states to promote archery and bowhunting opportunities,” said Jay McAninch, ATA’s CEO and president. “Like many recreational sports, archery needs the infrastructure and support that state and local governmental agencies can provide. This support, coupled with increased use of the archery excise tax funds, will provide the foundation for archery and bowhunting to become lifelong activities for mainstream America.”

McAninch said another step in ensuring long-term aid for youth archery is helping each state find ways to use archery excise taxes — called federal-aid funds — collected from archery equipment sales. At the moment, many states receive the aid but commit it to other efforts or use it to pay for hunter education or, in some states, shooting-range development.

Woock stressed that these efforts are an ongoing process. “We want to help states whenever possible, especially if they’re willing to put their federal aid dollars into archery and bowhunting-related activities,” he said. “Our future contributions to states will depend on how well individual states capture the federal money that’s available to them. In essence, for states ready and willing to put the funds to work for archery related activities, we’re ready to put more fuel in their tank.”

Watts added that states will benefit even more when they find ways to boost long-term participation in archery. “The states must realize we’re all in this together,” he said. “The more archers they recruit, the more likely they’ll increase their bowhunting numbers and license sales. Ultimately, increasing license sales also increases the federal-aid dollars allocated to each state. Of course, that’s in addition to the increased excise-tax collections on archery equipment sold. Clearly, it’s to each state’s benefit to increase their number of target archers and licensed bowhunters.”