Pope and Young Partners With Wishes for Warriors
Pope and Young recently partnered with Wishes for Warriors to introduce six veterans to the sport of archery. During the first Inter-Mountain Bowhunters Bash, Pope and Young volunteers and staff members spent the day introducing the veterans to the sport of archery, getting them acquainted with archery equipment, the process, and the fundamentals of shooting a compound bow (photo above).
The hands-on approach allowed each veteran to work directly with Pope and Young mentors and coaches, taking them through the process of setting up a bow, trimming arrows, and tuning their equipment. After being properly outfitted, each new archer took to the range to learn the basics of bowhunting, including sighting in the bow, proper shooting form, and ultimately taking the shot.
Given the chance to learn from world-class bowhunters, the verterans were ready to take the hill and spend time on a 3-D course. It didn’t take long for the shoot to become competitive; all of the participants had a blast, and the coaches absolutely loved getting to continue the coaching and encouragement on shot placement, range finding, and shooting up and down slopes.
“To train the very men and women who have sacrificed so much to ensure our freedoms and way of life is rewarding beyond measure,” said Pope and Young Vice President Dallas Smith.
That evening, through the generosity of Bear Archery and Trophy Ridge, Pope and Young presented each veteran with their own bow during the evening BBQ dinner and auction. Pope and Young wanted to give these veterans not only the chance to learn and be introduced to archery for the first time, but also want them to be able to take what they learned and have a new hobby, a new passion, a new way of life.
“Pope and Young knows the power that archery and bowhunting has to change lives” said P&Y Executive Director Jason Rounsaville, “We are honored to introduce these warriors to the beauty of bowhunting, and in some small way repay them for the sacrifices they have made in defending our freedoms.”
Levi Morgan Back on Top of the Podium
At the 1st Leg of the National Triple Crown in Pipestem, West Virginia, Levi Morgan (below center) locked in a first place finish in the Pro Male Release division, while his Team Mathews teammate Cara Kelly finished first in Pro Release Female division.
“We’re so proud of Cara and Levi,” said Derek Phillips, Mathews pro staff manager. “Cara shot one of her best rounds ever at an IBO event and closed it out in the shoot off. Levi is picking up right where he left off last year having won the National Triple Crown title in 2021.”
Mike Schloesser Wins Second-Straight World Cup Title
Mike Schloesser (below) of Team Hoyt recently won the Men’s Compound Champion during the second stage of the World Cup in Gwangju, South Korea. This is his second-straight World Cup title this year. He’s currently ranked as world No. 1.
In the gold medal match, Schloesser fought against windy conditions to card a 149, just one point off from perfect; his competitor scored a 141. Schloesser will be returning to the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final which will be held in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
NASP Begins Awarding Scholarships
NASP is celebrating its 20th year of “Changing Lives One Arrow at a Time” with the return to in person competition. When combined, the 2022 Western and Eastern national tournaments hosted 13,741 student archers safely participating in these in-person events.
Both national in-person competitions were open to all United States qualifying NASP archers. Earlier this year, NASP announced an exciting addition to this year’s event: all archers competing were eligible to be randomly selected for up to (120) $500 college scholarships. Upon graduation, archers could then apply these funds to the cost of any post-secondary educational institution or training program of their choice.
NASP established a computerized random selection process using the combined results from Western and Eastern Nationals. Eligibility only required for each archer to register, attend either national event, and submit a Bullseye score higher than 0. The computer then selected 50 males and 50 females from the combined results. Coaches of these selected archers have been notified to begin the award process.
NASP President, Tommy Floyd, said, “Since inception, our goal was to help grow the sport of archery, support the mission of educators, and help young people discover the many positive benefits of participating in the shooting sports. We have always been a program that aims to
reach everyone. The idea of bestowing a $500 scholarship to this many student-archers speaks loudly of our intent to make a positive impact on students that might not even be thinking about their plans to see post-secondary educational opportunities. Based on the feedback thus far, that is exactly what these scholarships are doing! We are grateful to our many sponsors who know that producing this kind of opportunity will and does cause young people to begin thinking about their life preparation beyond high school. We are absolutely committed to not only reaching more student archers with NASP, but also the philosophy of recognizing the
value in these students investing in their own life preparation through post-secondary education and training! NASP is committed to changing lives!”
NASP is conducting the 2022 Open Championship in Louisville, KY June 23-25, where an additional $500 scholarship will be randomly given away during each flight.
NASP thanks the following sponsors for their remarkable support of this scholarship program: Mathews Archery Inc., Mission Archery Inc., Brennan Industries Inc., Easton Technical Products, Morrell Targets, Avient Corporation, FeraDyne Outdoors, Saunders Archery, GSM Outdoors, BCY Fibers, Lancaster Archery Supply, NEET Products, National Bowhunter Education Foundation, Whitetails Unlimited, and KY Exposition Center & Louisville Tourism.
