The Scholastic Archery Association, DBA Scholastic 3-D Archery, is to foster, educate and guide youth in the area of 3-D archery.
Scholastic 3-D Archery will design, promote and foster national youth and high school 3D archery competition as an after school program affiliated with educational learning institutions, sportsman’s clubs and archery dealers.
In support of this overarching purpose, the Association is responsible for:
- Sanctioning and conducting national, local/state, and regional 3-D archery competitions and championships;
- Selecting, supporting, and managing teams and staff for 3-D archery competitions;
- Creating and maintaining the resources and infrastructure with local sportsman’s clubs that are necessary to support the growth of youth and high school 3D and target archery in the United States of America;
- Promoting the growth and development of instructional and competitive archery programs in the educational institutions in the United States of America; and
- Establishing and enforcing rules, regulations, and procedures concerning eligibility to compete in order to ensure fair competition.
Question? Call Cornerstone Christian Academy at 704-873-0032
NOTE: The cost for Friday only is:
– $15 for S3DA members
– $30 for non-members
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Sign up your child(ren):
ARCHERY: Regional results reveal young Cornerstone program already on target
Cornerstone Christian Academy’s archery club team has come a long way in a short time.
Two months after resurrecting its program, Cornerstone scored high marks during the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) regional student convention March 21-25.
Youth ages 13-18 attending schools from seven Southern or Mid-Atlantic states and one from the Cayman Islands were represented in the multi-sport challenge in Brevard. Cornerstone trumped them all.
“Our archery team did tremendous,” Cornerstone coach Bobby Griffith said. “That’s what put us over the top to win. Our school actually won first place in the overall athletics.”
They were especially on target in archery.
Six medals were awarded in each of the eight archery divisions. Cornerstone earned 31 of the 48. The breakdown: first place (four); second place (six); third place (five); fourth place (five); fifth place (seven); and sixth place (four).
Not a bad showing for a club that began in January with less than a dozen members each of whom lacked experience with a bow and arrow.
Expectations were exceeded in Brevard, Griffith said.
“I told them we were going to be competitive because they had done tremendous,” he said.
“We’ve been shooting a lot over the last three months,” Griffith continued. “We basically had baseline scores for all of our students, and just about every one of them shot the best scores they’ve ever shot. They did it at a competition. I mean, you couldn’t ask for anything better. They gave their best performances at the right time.”
By virtue of their finishes at the regional, those archers placing in the top six qualified for much larger events in the coming months.
In May, they will travel to Warrensburg, Missouri, to participate in an ACE International Student Convention. Then in July, it’s off to Metropolis, Illinois, for the Scholastic 3-D Archery Nationals.
“They’ve been so excited at the progress they’ve made in such a quick time,” Griffith said. “School is actually out this week for spring break. We haven’t had any official practices this week, but we’ve had kids come and practice on their own without any encouragement from me or anyone from the school at all. They are taking it very serious. They’re pretty competitive kids.”
Archery helps Cornerstone students find focus
Bobby Griffith, co-founder of Cornerstone Christian Academy, started an archery club in January with 10 students who had never before used a bow and arrow. Now the group has grown to 25 and counting, and participants are doing well in competitions around the state.
Cornerstone had an archery club when it opened more than two decades ago. Bobby’s older sons, Caleb and Christian, participated, but the boys and other students lost interest and the club faded away.
Bobby’s youngest son, C.J., a third-grader at Cornerstone, brought up the idea of starting the club again in January. Bobby, who enjoyed recreational archery as a boy and bow hunts as an adult, decided the club would give students a way to compete at competitions all over the state.
According to the Scholastic 3-D Archery website, Cornerstone will be the fourth school in the state to have an S3DA-affliliated archery club.
“We started out with just a few and now we have a ton of students interested in archery,” Bobby said. “I don’t know if the interest stems from the ‘Hunger Games’ movies or what.”
The members meet three times a week to practice and are taught how to shoot long, recurve and compound bows.
“Archery has given me a way to release a little after school,” said Nathan St. Clair, a junior at Cornerstone.
“It’s a good way to practice strength and focus,” said Elise Prouty, ninth-grader. “At competitions I feel nervous, but confident in my abilities.”
Elise’s brother, Sam, recently participated in the Northwest NC Regional Circuit at the Foothills Archery Shoot and finished fourth in the youth division.
Senior Will Stidham, a beginner at archery, won at the same competition.
Renee Griffith, principal at Cornerstone, said the non-traditional skills archery teaches help students greatly in the classroom.
“Kids learn to control jitters in a stressful event like a competition,” Renee said. “This prepares them for life because not everything they do is going to be a walk in the park.”
Renee said she saw students involved in archery become more confident and focused on their goals. A junior who has ADHD and struggled in class has improved in the classroom since he joined the club, she said.
“It doesn’t matter if you have a physical or mental disability with archery,” Renee said. “You can still compete on the same level as anyone else and I think that teaches our students to respect others with disabilities as well as take confidence in themselves if they have a disability.”
The club is open to students 13 and older, but Bobby plans to expand it to include third- and fourth-graders after the team’s competition in Brevard on March 21. He also hopes to introduce archery to other Christian schools and public schools in the area.
