Several thousand students from across Iowa will be aiming to win medals and scholarship money in the 19th annual state archery tournament next weekend.
Zach Benttine, the Iowa DNR’s archery coordinator, says the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines will host the dual category competition — which is bounding in popularity every year.
“This year, we have 2,700 registered archers for bullseye from 146 total schools across the state. It’s an increase of 650 kids from last year,” Benttine says, “and then we have a 3-D state tournament, and that one is 1,300 registered archers from 116 total schools.” That second part of the tournament is seeing an increase of 300 students from last year.
For a contest that didn’t exist 20 years ago, Benttine says archery has seen a remarkable amount of growth.
“More schools are looking for activities for students who maybe aren’t in a different or typical sport to still have that connection with their school,” he says. “Archery, it doesn’t matter if you’re shorter or taller, faster, any athlete can compete.”
The bullseye tournament has traditional square targets with colored, concentric rings, while the 3-D tournament has students zeroing in on a half-dozen types of styrofoam animals, including stone sheep, antelopes, deer, bears, turkeys and coyotes. The students range from grades four through 12 and they’re shooting for some nice rewards.
“The National Archery in the Schools Program generously gives out scholarships to Iowa-specific archers. We’re giving away $30,000 to college, secondary education, other kinds of scholarships for the students,” he says, “and then we give away roughly $30,000 in equipment grants for the schools.”
He says archery teaches discipline, focus, and perseverance while giving students of all skill levels an opportunity to excel. This is the largest archery tournament in Iowa, and the top finishers will go on to the national tournament. Benttine says there’s a 10-hour curriculum that’s taught at each competing school.
The tournament runs next Friday through Sunday (March 27-29) at the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center and the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
