Posted by: lorrettasinclair on: April 6, 2009
Hey! It’s Sunday – and College Archer Brittany Lorenti, James Madison University, just won the World Cup (Senior Women’s Compound) in Santo Domingo!
Brittany also won, along with her teammates, Diane Watson and Jamie VanNatta, the Gold medal for the Compound Women’s team event. Jacob Wukie, also of James Madison, won the bronze medal in the Recurve Men’s team event, along with archers Brady Ellison and Vic Wunderle. Congratulations to everyone!
The ad campaign is on the move for College Archery. You may have seen our ads in the U.S. and International Archer magazine. When you see Arlynne Rhodes, owner of the magazine, tell her thank you for supporting college archery!
One of our critical initiatives over the next few years is to increase CAP club membership. The CAP Executive Council has set a goal of reaching 300 registered clubs by December 2011. We’re off to a good start, between 1 January and 31 March, 14 new clubs were registered.
This growth is a direct result of the efforts of the organization to promote itself. We’ve made CAP visible at youth events where we’ve distributed our brochures and made presentations to youth athletes, parents, youth organizers, and college administrators.
The CAP developed, printed, and distributed 3000 brochures between December and the end of February. Another 1000 brochures were distributed at NASP State Championships in Ohio and Kentucky in March. Funding for these efforts comes from the Easton Sports Development Foundation grant that was written and submitted by the CAP.
Participation of collegiate athletes at tournaments is also growing. The new California Collegiate State Championships, dubbed C3, boasted nearly 60 college athletes from eight universities. The participation at the 2009 C3 almost matched the 2008 West Regional Outdoor Championship where 71 athletes from ten universities competed. There are currently 19 colleges registered in the CAP in California, the strongest representation in the U.S by state.
At Collegiate Indoor Nationals, which is held in conjunction with USA Archery Indoor Nationals, the total participation was 303 for all college divisions. The college athletes are also included in the Senior Division for USAA Indoors. Roughly 50% of the Senior Division’s competitors were comprised of college athletes. Of the 94 Senior Compound Women 48 were college archers; 73 of 118 Senior Recurve Women were college archers; 71 of 203 Senior Compound Men were college archers; and 111 of 200 Senior Recurve men were college archers.
What’s next? The Executive Council approved the College Basic Bow division in an effort to reach out to archers who currently do not participate because their equipment isn’t covered by our divisions. The College Basic Bow Division includes Genesis, traditional, and barebow archers. Tournament hosts are encouraged to use this division at local and state levels so that these college athletes can compete.
We’re also looking into the feasibility of including a division that would include collegiate compound bow hunters. At the East Regional College Championships, a test event is being conducted that will allow archers with limited compound equipment to shoot in a division. If this is successful, the board will consider how to include a compound limited division for specific events.
We have just started looking into the opportunities to hold 3D College Archery events. I know that there are many college archers who shoot 3D and I’ll keep you posted as we receive more information.
It’s an exciting time for College Archery as we reach out to NASP, ASAP, OAS, JOAD – and archery organizations throughout the U.S. The CAP looks forward to more competitions, more opportunities, and more participation. We invite everyone to come shoot with us!
Lorretta Sinclair 5 April, 2009
