Pennsylvania Game Commission officials announced more than 525 students from 24 schools throughout the state will compete in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) 2012 State Tournament, which will be held on Friday, Mar. 9, at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility inUniversity Park,CentreCounty. Of the students registered, 234 are females and 293 are males.

In mid-2010, the Game Commission began coordinating Pennsylvania’s NASP, which helps school districts in Pennsylvania meet physical education curriculum requirements of the state Department of Education, while at the same time introducing them to the world of competitive archery. Last year, about 350 students from nearly a dozen school districts participated in the state competition, which was volunteer-run at the time.

“At least 65 schools are involved in Pennsylvania NASP,” said Samantha Pedder, Game Commission Outreach Coordinator, who oversees NASP for the agency.  In the past three months, 15 schools have joined the program. We originally anticipated 400 to 450 archers would participate in this year’s competition, and we are ecstatic that so many schools are sending students to compete.

“As a result of the overwhelming response from interested schools, we had to add additional positions to accommodate the growing number of participants.”

Studies conducted by the national NASP organization demonstrate that NASP is a great introduction to the sport of archery, and that many students choose to pursue the sport outside of school.

A new feature of the tournament this year – a “Shooter’s Expo” – will offer participants a chance to explore other outdoor-related activities, such as 3-D archery target shooting and turkey calling.

“NASP fosters an interest in archery for these students, and we hope that this expo feature will introduce students to different opportunities to expand their archery experience,” Pedder said. “We want to encourage them to keep shooting and to consider taking the next steps toward 3-D archery tournaments and, eventually, bowhunting, which are natural avenues for archers to hone and maintain their skills.”

The competition will begin at8:30 a.m., and consist of five flights followed by an awards presentation. Each archer will shoot one practice end of five arrows at 10 meters, and then shoot three scoring ends of five arrows (15 arrows total) at 10 meters. After that, each archer will shoot one practice end of five arrows at 15 meters and then shoot three scoring ends of five arrows (15 arrows total) at 15 meters. Archers will have two minutes to shoot each five-arrow end.

At the awards ceremony, which will begin at4 p.m., one team trophy will be awarded to each of the first- through third-place teams in each division (elementary, middle and high school).  Each first- through and third-place team members also will receive a plaque.

Individuals will receive trophies for first- through third-place male and female participant categories in each division (elementary, middle and high school), and plaques to fourth- and fifth-place individual males and females in those grades. Also, each participant will receive a certificate and medal.

The five flights are scheduled to run as follows, along with the schools participating in each flight:

Flight One of 100 participants (8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.): Williams Valley High School; Lathrop Street Elementary School; Gillingham Charter School; New Castle Christian Academy; and Donegal High School.

Flight Two of 105 participants (9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.): Tunkhannock Elementary School; Williams Valley High School; Blue Ridge High School; Bangor Area High School; New Castle Christian Academy; Harrisburg Christian School; Gillingham Charter School; and Cameron County School District.

Flight Three of 108 participants (11 a.m. to noon): New Brighton High School; Halifax High School; Choconut Valley Elementary School; Tunkhannock Area Middle School; Tunkhannock Elementary School; Bangor Area Middle School; DeFranco Elementary School; Blue Ridge Middle School; Beaver High School; and Phoenixville Area Middle School.

Flight Four of 107 participants (12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.): Halifax High School; Choconut Valley Elementary School; S.R.U. Middle School; Tunkhannock Area Middle School; Bangor Area High School; Blue Ridge High School; Blue Ridge Middle School; Bangor Area High School; Phoenixville Area Middle School; DeFranco Elementary School; and Tunkhannock Elementary School.

Flight Five of 107 participants (1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.): Montrose Middle School; Halifax High School; Montrose High School; Tunkhannock Middle School; Tunkhannock Elementary School; DeFranco Elementary School; Blue Ridge High School; Bangor Area High School; Tunkhannock Area High School; and Phoenixville Area Middle School.