HELENA — Students from across the Treasure State are hitting their target goals in archery and life at the NASP State Archery Tournament.
"I have learned with archery to never give up because you can shoot a three and then the next week you can go shoot a three hundred it just takes a lot of practice and dedication," Kaycee Hanson a middle school competitor says.
Hundreds of those dedicated students represented more than 200 elementary, middle and high schools from around the state.
The NASP State Tournament, a national qualifier, is hosted by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Ryan Schmaltz, Montana's NASP coordinator says, “To see them working together and helping each other out, even scoring each other as they do the tournament…it is neat to see the schools, the kids all coming together.”
Competitors were as young as fourth grade and ran through high school age with both boys and girls competing.
For many of the competitors, it is a way to make friends and learn about teamwork.
"My favorite part is just seeing my team shooting and it just motivates me to be better," said JJ Boyer, last year's elementary boys archery state champion.
There are two parts to the tournament, bullseye targets shooting from different distances and 3-D targets representing a variety of animals.
NASP offers a safe, in-school archery curriculum and provides benefits such as improving student focus and academic discipline.
(Hear what an archery coach says the sport does for his students)
Dugan Coburn, an archery coach for multiple programs has seen these benefits first-hand.
“A really big component of it is just giving the kids a chance to be prideful and learn confidence in what they are doing," Coburn says. "It is just that archery is a great thing because it goes for your whole life.”
FWP provides basic archery instructor trainings and cost-shares for equipment for teachers interested in starting NASP at their schools.
