NASP Educators and Coaches Conference Dates Announced
Registration is now open for the 2021 NASP Educators and Coaches Conference, which will be held July 23-24, 2021, at the Johnny A. and Genny Morris Conservation Center in Springfield Missouri.
Following two very successful Educator and Coaches Conferences in 2016 and 2018, National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) staff invite you to attend this year’s event in Springfield. Since the beginning of NASP, educators and coach’s surveys have expressed the need for an opportunity for NASP educators and coaches to learn from experts and colleagues on how to improve their current efforts.
There will be multiple 1-hour concurrent sessions that are available for participants to choose from on both days. These concurrent sessions are established to help educators and coaches become a more effective NASP instructor. In fact, all session topics were requested in feedback from 2018 conference attendees.
Conference Topics
- Effective Practice Techniques
- Coaching Common Shooter Mistakes
- String Bow, Target Panic and Teaching The 11 Steps of NASP
- NASP Equipment Maintenance
- Coaching The Advanced Archer
- Coaching The Beginning Archer
- Coaching Kids Prior To, and During a Tournament
- Team building Tips
- Coaching Mixed Groups of Archers
- Grade Level Specific Coaching Techniques
- Running An Effective Local Tournament
- Tips On Working With Volunteers, Administrators and Parents
- Conditioning, Health, and Fitness in NASP
- The Archery Way: Coaching Tips on Integrity, Honesty and Sportsmanship
- Introducing the IBO 3D Challenge
- Tech Tips for a Smooth Tournament/Website Tips and Tricks
Registration Dates and Details
- Early bird registration cost for the Conference will be $209 from January 4, 2021, to May 30, 2021.
- Regular registration begins on June 1 to July 16, 2021, at $279.
- On-site registration cost will be $359.
- For conference registration, click here.
Cancellation Policy
- If you cancel before June 30, you will be issued a refund less a $39 admin fee.
- After July 1, any registered attendee may substitute someone, but no refunds will be provided.
- Important note: Should the event be terminated or postponed by NASP due to continuation of any widespread issue such as Covid-19, all registered attendees would be fully refunded. NASP would make this type of decision well before the June 30 deadline.
Food and Lodging
Lunch and snacks will be provided each day as a part of registration. Participants will need name badge to participate in meals. Extra lunches will be available for purchase for $25 for guests of attendees through the registration link.
Prizes and Giveaways will be awarded on Saturday, immediately following the closing session of the conference. All winners/recipients must be present to win.
Lodging is not included in the conference registration price and will be a separate step for attendees. The NASP has established room blocks at the following hotels; they each offer a continental breakfast. When inquiring at hotel, let them know that you are attending under National Archery in the Schools Program or NASP Educator and Coaches Conference.
2009 S National Ave
Springfield, MO 65804
417-881-8118
Rate - $139 plus taxes – these are suites
1845 E Sunshine
Springfield, MO 65804
417-881-9100
Rate - $94 plus taxes
Tru by Hilton Springfield Downtown
517 E Elm Street
Springfield, MO 65806
417-249-1400
Rate - $100 plus taxes
3232 S Glenstone
Springfield, MO
417-882-6611
Rate - $92 plus taxes
Online conference registration begins on January 4, 2021. NASP staff invites you to learn from some of the best NASP educators and coaches across 47 States, 8 Canadian Provinces and 11 Countries on how to raise the bar for your NASP students.
Covid-19 Impact on School Archery Lessons
Delivering education during this year of Covid-19 has been a challenge for students, parents, educators, and public officials trying to do the right thing. Student GPAs, friendships, and interactions with educator role models are being impacted beyond imagination.
Participants and fans of the non-profit National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) are among those being negatively impacted by the virus threat.
In order for a student to experience archery lessons as part of their school’s curricula, the teacher must undergo NASP’s highly standardized 8-hour certification process. According to data comparing pre and post Covid-19 time frames, NASP certifications to teach archery are down only 30 percent to 2,861 educators this year. Just under 10 percent of these newly certified teachers utilized NASP’s new hybrid training program to reduce face-to-face interaction.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2014), 57 percent of children between 6 and 17 years old participate in at least one after-school extracurricular activity. While educators have or are figuring out how to present math, science, language, and other core content either remotely or socially distanced, extra-curricular activities are taking a big hit. Winter sports are being greatly curtailed or even cancelled. School clubs are also in limbo. Archery is less affected because teachers say social distancing and equipment contamination can be controlled to reduce infection risk among archery athletes.
One might wonder, “Why do sports and clubs matter?” These school-related activities motivate many students beyond the playing field or range. More than one million students per year in more than 9,000 schools, participate annually in NASP. According to a 2017 survey of NASP students, 58 percent feel more connected to their school because of NASP. Another, 40 percent say they work harder in the classroom because of the program. Beyond the classroom, 60 percent of NASP students participate in one or more archery tournaments per year. At an 80 percent rate, even more of these competitive student archers say they feel a greater connection at school because of NASP. According to a survey by researchers at the University of Florida, students like NASP because it is fun, they can see their self-improvement, and they make new friends.
Very popular NASP tournaments are taking a bigger hit in terms of participation than classroom instruction. The number of tournaments held from July-December in 2019 compared to 2020 was down 74 percent to just 64 events. Participation in these events was down even more at 82 percent which amounts to 8,610 participants this year compared to 74,972 during this same period in 2019.
Still, NASP staff remains grateful and hopeful. The heart and soul of NASP are the in-school lessons presented by the nearly 100,000 educators who have become NASP-certified over the past two decades. According to teachers, many of these archery lessons continue, albeit in some cases with various social distancing and equipment cleaning strategies.
The largest archery tournament in the world, NASP Nationals, has occurred the 2nd weekend of May in Louisville, Kentucky for many years. Covid-19 caused cancellation of the event in 2020. The safe, full return of this event is just one of the thousands of things, millions of the world’s citizens are looking forward to returning to normal. For more information visit, www.naspschools.org.
Odin’s Innovations Acquires Hunter’s Kloak
After years of using the Hunter’s Kloak synthetic scents in Odin’s Innovations time released delivery, the brands are combining to provide hunters with next generation scent delivery options to improve the chances for a successful hunt.
“When we decided to move our product to 100% synthetic scents, we looked for the most effective and proven. That led us to Hunter’s Kloak,” said Paul Black of Odin’s Innovations. “Combining the companies is the logical next step to ensure that Odin’s customers would continue to use the best synthetic scents available.”
Extensively field and laboratory tested, Odin’s releases scent for 30 days or more and is “rain-proof”, continuing to work even after heavy rain or snow. Furthermore, Odin’s Scent Beads biodegrade.
“The Odin’s product is brilliant,” said Jodie Daniels of Hunter’s Kloak.
“The products create a shift in how hunter’s look at the use of scents,” said Black. “With our lure scents, the hunter can survey the traffic in front of trail cameras without frequent re-introduction of human scent when restocking...and, it is effective the entire time. Also, when the pheromone (dominant buck and doe in estrus urine) scents are effective, we feel that the stability of our release beads and the efficacy of synthetic scents combine to provide the most effective attractants available.”
Black subjected his scented beads to testing at a university chemistry laboratory. During the test, scent beads were exposed to the elements for 27 days. Every three days, samples were collected and measured by a Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer to determine scent potency. After 27 days, the product retained more than half of its initial potency.
Many of the Hunter’s Kloak products will continue to be available and used in concert with the Odin’s family of great products. “Odin’s has been fortunate to grow very quickly,” said Black. “This puts more fuel in our tank!”
“The entire Hunter’s Kloak team would also like to share our gratitude and appreciation for not only your business, but your support and partnership over the previous four years,” said Gabrielle Barltett, VP of Hunter’s Kloak, in a release to customers and dealers. “Each and every one of you have played a role in helping Hunter’s Kloak become what it is today. It is a bittersweet time, but rest assured you are in good hands with Odin’s.”
2021 Lancaster Archery Classic Tournament Cancelled
Lancaster Archery Supply recently announced it has cancelled the 2021 Lancaster Archery Classic tournament, which had been scheduled for late January in Manheim, Pennsylvania. In making the announcement, Rob Kaufhold, company founder and president, issued the following statement.
After hundreds of hours of determined planning for the 2021 LAS Classic Tournament, we are heartbroken to have exhausted all options to be able to host this tournament in January of 2021. I personally — and we collectively — apologize for not being able to deliver on a Classic event as planned despite our very best efforts. To explain and be transparent, PA Gov. (Tom) Wolf’s administration on Dec. 10 instituted new and expanded levels of restrictions that limited gatherings to 10 people and forbid sporting events. Until that time, we still would have been able to host the Classic at the Nook for the 1,000-plus archers who registered.
We created plans for the Classic that focused on keeping attendees as safe as possible through social distancing and the use of masks and hand sanitizer throughout the event. Even with these extraordinary preparations in place, we were forced to cancel the Classic due to measures outside of our control.
The Lancaster Archery Classic is, and always has been, our way of saying “Thank You” to our customers, the archery community and the industry for the friendships and blessings that our involvement in the sport has provided. We considered a virtual event, but that didn’t feel right to us because our purpose has always been to bring archers together to enjoy the fellowship and networking of an in-person event.
Again, we apologize for ultimately having no option other than to cancel the 2021 Classic and we share in your disappointment. We look forward to seeing and talking to you at the Classic or another tournament in the future.
Full refunds were sent to all registered participants by Dec. 18, 2020.
