NETAA NEWSLETTER WELCOME ABOARD- The first thing I want to do is welcome all our new members. Fifteen new members signed up at the Indoor Winter Qualifier in NY alone. In total our membership grew by twenty-five new members since the last newsletter, with more coming in all the time.
 

AIM FOR COLLEGE PROGRAM- This year's Tuition Voucher distribution got a shot
in the arm this month by way of a $1,000.00 donation fro Robelle Industries. Robelle is perhaps the largest manufacturer and distributors of swimming pool chemicles and other fine products in the country.  Located in Stoughton, MA they ship all over the country.  What is their connection with archery?  They have none!  The owner, Jay Hanflig, gives generously to a number of worthy causes, and believes that a program that will help youngsters "earn" their way to college through partisipation in a family based sport is worthy of support. Thanks Jay, and thanks to Robelle Industries, for helping to make The '99 Aim For College Tuition Voucher Distribution Program a reality. (note: If any of our members knows a company that might consider helping, please get us the contact person's name and address.  We'll send a letter explaining the program and asking for assistance.)

RHODE ISLAND STATE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP- According to Mark Spear, the first NETAA Indoor State Championship in Rhode Island was a success! They had fifty competitors in spite of the fact that the flyers went out a little late to really help build attendance. Mark and the crew down at South County Archery have already signed on to run the event next year and make it an annual part of the NETAA Tournament Tour. 

MASSACHUETTES STATE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP- TePee Archery did their usual good job hosting this annual event and a great time was had by all. While there were no perfect scores, Olympic gold medallist Butch Johnson posted a 449 with 33 X's. Unfortunately for Butch, Matt Hopkins posted a 449 as well with 38 X's to win the money class. TePee has also committed to host this event again next year, giving us the opportunity to build next year's tour early. 

INDOOR WINTER QUALIFIER- We've had a tough time finding a good home for this event, until now! This was the fourth year we held an Indoor 3D Winter Qualifier, and the fourth location that we tried. The Archery Barn in Berne, New York turned out to be a great host site and the owners, Rich Coon and George Green, have invited us back next year. The Archery Barn is just outside Albany, which makes it easy to get to from New England, and centrally located in the entire Northeast region. Next year we'll move it a week earlier to avoid Valentine's Day, while still keeping it just ahead of the Springfield Shoot for those that want to use it as a "warm-up" for that event. This tournament was our first 3D shoot at known distances. Everyone liked the new format, and is looking forward to the outdoor season where this practice will continue. For those doubting Thomas' out there that thought known distances would be "no challenge", think again! The scores posted were generally lower than what we saw last year in the unknown distance 40 target 3D events. There was a real horse race for first place in the Men's Freestyle Class, however. George Ferrell posted the winning score with a 410. Second and third went to Duane Ward and Pete Lucas respectively, both with 409's. The tiebreaker was decided by total 12's (15 to 13), showing just how close the competition really was! We had a great turn out in the Ladies Freestyle class, with some of the top women archers in New York participating. The one drawback of the weekend was the cold mixed with a snow and ice storm that kept some people home. With a valiant effort from The Archery Barn, the shooting range and practice area was kept relatively warm. Next year all the insulation and finished walls will be in place, along with a big heating system, so we'll all be even more comfortable. They should also have a separate range available so we could run a 450 qualifier during the same weekend if there is any interest in a combined event. 

INTERNET SCORES- We are not posting tournament scores in the newsletter because there simply will not be enough room with all the shoots scheduled. Pete Lucas has gotten his new web site up recently however, and will be posting all NETAA results for everyone to check out. He also is posting a complete tournament schedule. Check it out at home.infospace.com/pinwheel1.

We know the way to do it is offer huge prize money to draw large numbers of archers. The large attendance, coupled with the big cash prizes would generate media interest, which, in turn, would generate both more attendance and prize money the following year. The problem was how to get the ball rolling! What we plan, is to select a "Grand Champion" at the Championship every year starting this 

The Grand Champion will be the person who posts the highest aggregate score at the Championship in the 3D and 540 Round competitions in the "Money Division". In addition to a special trophy, the winner will receive a cash prize. The prize will be determined by sponsorship commitment from a company that will be the "TITLE SPONSOR" of the Grand Championship event. We are talking with a couple companies that are interested in giving this a chance this season to see what happens. While we may only have $1,000.00 this year, if we get good support from archers, we could get significantly more next season, and perhaps expand the program to include other classes. 

To compete in the Grand Championship, archers will have to qualify and register to compete in the "MONEY DIVISION" in both the 3D and target championship events at the World Championship. This will be limited to the M-FS class this year. There will be no additional registration fee for this event, only the registration fees associated with the two individual games ($100.00 each for the money class). In addition to the Grand Prize money/award, there will be a cash pay down in each of the individual events (one place per three contestants, up to ten places per class/game). The cash prize pool will be established using $60.00 of each $100.00 registration fee. 

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP- To add additional interest/excitement to the Championship this year, we are adding a special TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. The final details will be put together and mailed to all qualified archers with their invitations to the Championship, but it will be something like this: Every team will be made up of three members. Team registration will be a separate registration fee paid by each three-person group. All three members of the team must be contestants in the World Championship games by invitation and separate registration. Archers can sign up into more than one team. The team registration fees will be paid back 100% into this event. Semi-final team results will be determined by adding the three team members' scores from the semi-final rounds of the Championship. The top teams will advance to the finals to be held on Sunday and shot in an open gallery setting for all to enjoy. 

QUALIFICATION- There has been some confusion with respect to the need to qualify to attend the World Championship. This has been caused, in part; by the way we have experimented in the past with various programs. I'm sorry for the confusion! From now on, every archer "MUST" qualify to compete in either the 3D or target Championships games. This goes for both open and money divisions. There is no longer a pro division (due to lack of interest). Pros must compete in the money division at the championship. It is therefore very important that all archers that wish to compete get qualified! We are holding considerably more qualifiers this year and are willing to sanction several more if we can find suitable host sites and non-conflicting dates. For those that don't qualify, we will have a 30 target Bowhunter Proficiency Round course set up for the weekend, and will be giving NETAA Bowhunter Proficiency Awards in conjunction with that event. 

NEW ENGLAND- For the third year in a row, the rumor is that there will be no IBO Triple Crown in New England. This is the first year that the rumer wasn't put to rest with flyers distributed at the Springfield shoot! It seems the IBO supporters are no longer willing to run major shoots in the region if they are not going to be profitable. While you can hardly blame them, NETAA is committed to continue with the New England Triple Crown, profitable or not, to maintain a major tour with significant awards here in the NorthEast. Hopefully, we'll get an increased amount of support this year for these three events and can, with the help of the archers of New England, re-build a tournament tour that is representative of the number of archers. If we are to have major tournaments here in the Northeast, we need large numbers of archers to come out and support them. If we start getting the numbers, the sponsors will come. With the sponsors will come large cash awards, which, in turn, will draw more attendance. We have a few months before the outdoor schedule begins, lets all do our part to encourage the maximum participation we can to start building "our" sport to the level it should reach.