14th Annual Texas-National Archery Championship Coming to Belton

Texas is about to begin its 14th state tournament for schools participating in the National Archery in the Schools Program. The number of students participating this year is at an all-time high.

Some 2,597 students from 111 Texas schools will all be headed to Belton at the end of the month to compete for awards at the Bell County Expo Center with a chance to move on to the national tournament coming up in May in Louisville, Kentucky. The tournament will take place on March 28th and 29th. 

It really is a chance for all students to compete as by rule the teams competing in the National Archery in the School program are mixed-gender. 45% of participants registered this year are female, and the students who compete come from all different size rural and urban schools.

Burnie Kessner is the Archery Coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In a press release Kessner said, “There will be students here from across the state, ranging from Santa Rosa in the Rio Grande Valley to Kelton in the Panhandle to inner-city Houston and they all use the same equipment, their school-owned bow with no sights and no mechanical accessories so it’s all about the student’s abilities, not the gear."

Part of the motivation for so many participants is the scholarship money on the table for the winners. $30,000. The Texas-NASP tournament has awarded 185,500 dollars in student aid since 2006.