NASP world student-archery championship to be held in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Mo – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) expects a spike in participation by Missouri student archers with the recent announcement by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) that it will hold its 2013 NASP World Championship in St. Louis. The event will be held June 28-30 at the America Center and Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams.

Since NASP's beginnings in 2002, more than 10 million students have participated in the student-archery program through more than 10,000 schools in 47 states and five countries.

For the past four years, the NASP world tournament has been held in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World. The world tournament has drawn student archers from 25 states, Canada, Africa and New Zealand.

According to NASP, the 2013 World Championship is being relocated to St. Louis because the location is more centralized and remains equally accessible for attendees from other countries. St. Louis also provides numerous off-site attractions and is more financially friendly to attendees. The new location also allows for more favorable scheduling for coaches, teams, and schools.

NASP expects approximately 2,000 student archers to participate in the 2013 NASP World Championship, including many from Missouri’s National Archery in the Schools Program (MoNASP).

MoNASP is coordinated and funded by MDC and the Conservation Federation of Missouri in partnership with hundreds of schools and supporting organizations throughout the state. MoNASP is an affiliate of NASP and promotes education, self-esteem, and physical activity for students in grades 4 through 12 through participation in the sport of archery. More than 56,000 Missouri students from 262 schools participate in MoNASP.

“We are incredibly excited for our MoNASP student archers about having the NASP World Championship in St. Louis,” says MDC MoNASP Coordinator Eric Edwards. “The new location will be much more affordable and convenient.”

Edwards adds that nearly all kids, regardless of age, size or physical ability, can succeed at archery.

“Kids love archery, and archery helps kids excel,” Edwards says. “School archery programs improve school attendance, increase participants’ self-esteem and physical activity, relate to learning subject matter, appeal to a great variety of students, get kids out-of-doors to discover nature, and can become a popular after-school activity.”

MoNASP will hold its 2013 state tournament at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg March 23.

For more information on NASP, visit archeryintheschools.org. For more information on MoNASP, visit mdc.mo.gov.