Beyond the Backyard
(01-13-2010)
As the result of five years of growing interest by West Virginia students, the Fifth Annual West Virginia Archery in the Schools (AIS) State Tournament will be held at the Charleston Civic Center on Saturday, March 27, 2010. More than 600 students from across the state are expected to participate, making this the largest archery tournament ever held in the state of West Virginia.
The AIS Program is the Division of Natural Resources’ largest and fastest growing education program – reaching more than 40,000 students through the participation of nearly 200 schools. Since the DNR implemented the program nearly five years ago, more than 1,000 students have participated in four state tournaments held in different parts of the state. With the continued growth and interest in the program, the DNR will move this year’s tournament to the state’s largest venue – the Charleston Civic Center, according to AIS Program Coordinator Jerry Westfall of the DNR Wildlife Resources Section.
“With that many student archers, we’re encouraging all participating schools to start working now to get their registration material in before the February 26 deadline,” said Westfall. “We are hoping this larger facility will give the schools that have not been to the state tournament before an opportunity to participate. We encourage all parents, principals and teachers to actively support their AIS Program and consider coming to the tournament. Schools can attend even if they do not have a full team of 12 co-ed students. A school can attend with even one student! That school would not be eligible for team awards, but that student would represent the school for any individual awards.”
Schools that have trained AIS instructors but have not yet purchased archery equipment still have the opportunity to participate in the tournament. “Certified instructors may volunteer to help with scoring and arrow-pulling at the tournament,” noted Westfall. “This would give instructors first-hand knowledge of what goes on at our tournament. Please call well in advance and let us know you would like to volunteer.”
For more information on the AIS tournament and the AIS Program go to: www.wvdnr.gov/archery. At that Web site, teachers can click on links for: Tournament (which shows all registration material), Schools (showing all participating AIS schools) and NewsLinks, with a fact sheet describing the program in detail, or call Jerry Westfall at 304-558-2771.