MAY 2001 NEWSLETTER - NETAA
Greetings fellow archers. The 2001 tournament tour is in full swing as this issue goes to press, and it is shaping up to be a very exciting tour indeed! While we didn’t have as many indoor tournaments as we’d like to see, the NETAA sanctioned indoor events this winter saw a dramatic increase in attendance which equates to over twice as many archers qualified for the 540 Championship than we had at this time last year. Membership is growing at a steady clip, and we have had a number of companies in the archery/bowhunting industry contact us looking for both sponsorship and exhibitor information. We are in the process of mailing sponsorship packages out to several hundred manufacturers at this time and are working on some exciting plans for the 2002 Championship that will be announced in future newsletters.
SOUTHERN TRIPLE CROWN- The first leg of the brand new Southern Triple Crown was a great shoot! The folks at Obissquasoit Bowman did an outstanding job on the courses and the overall hospitality could not have been better. We met many new people and signed up a number of new members. Some of the officers from Limerick Archers (host of the second leg) came by and shot on Saturday to see how we run the shoot, and show their support. More of them would have come, but they had a previously scheduled club shoot on Sunday, and had to leave a work party behind to prepare. Next year these shoots will be scheduled far enough in advance to avoid conflicts and to get out more advertising, which will substantially increase attendance. Everyone that attended the shoot went away impressed with the tour, and committed to be a NETAA “goodwill ambassador” in the area for the future. There is tremendous potential for membership growth and shoot attendance in the southern New Jersey/Delaware area, and we now have planted the seeds necessary to foster that growth.
NEW ENGLAND TRIPLE CROWN - About to start the sixth consecutive season, this mini tour is very well established and should see continued growth in attendance this season. The first leg is in Brattleboro a week and a half after this column goes to the printer, so there is little to report. The club called a week or so ago to tell us there was still four feet of snow in the woods, but they believed it would be gone for the shoot. This week has been warm with several days of rain, so we will probably be able to get by without snowshoes, but boots might be a good idea!
NEW YORK TRIPLE CROWN- The first leg is just days after this column at Ti-Yogi Bowman in Hyde Park. The mini tour is off to a rocky start due to schedule problems, but has been well supported in the past and is hosted by three of the best clubs/courses in the State. Several members contacted us disappointed that the first leg fell on Easter weekend. Believe me, I did not like the idea either! The original plan was to avoid Easter by having the shoot the prior weekend, but those plans were dashed when we were told of a schedule conflict with a major shoot. It was the opinion of dozens of archers we polled in the area that going “head to head” with this other shoot would hurt our attendance much worse than Easter weekend. The only other possible date (with the three triple crowns already scheduled many dates were already gone) was the first weekend in May. This is opening weekend of the turkey season in New York, and the weekend of the big striped bass tournament in Hyde Park. As most of our archers are avid hunters and fisherman, this is a bad weekend for a shoot (we found that out first hand last year and vowed to not make the mistake again!). The hope was that the serious archers that compete at the regional level NETAA tournaments, would come out on Saturday to get their 40 targets in, leaving Easter Sunday as a family day, or shoot early/late Sunday to work the shoot in around their holiday plans. Some will not make it, but that would be the case no matter what weekend we chose.
WEB SITE- After a few months of little activity, the web site development is back in full swing. Every member should bookmark the site www.NETAA.org and check it occasionally to stay current. The printed newsletter in North American Bowhunter is a great tool and membership benefit, but it only publishes every two months (with a 4 week lead time) so there are times when the “news” contained in our column is three months old. Recently we have added information on sanctioning and sponsorship, as well as more complete rules and scores from recent events. We are looking for more qualifiers to expand the NETAA tour into other areas/regions, and the basic information on shoot sanctioning is now on the website. We encourage all our members to spread the word in their travels that there are opportunities available for NETAA sanctioned events.
SPONSORSHIP- NETAA
is putting forth a serious effort this season to expand the amount of sponsorship
support for the tour. The first step was to establish a sponsorship
program and announce it, which was done on the website last month.
The second step is a mailing to companies in the industry asking for their
support. The letters just started going out, but it is encouraging
to note that several companies contacted us before we even announced the
program asking how they could get involved!
There are two new sponsorship
programs for this season. The first is “Title Sponsorship” of each
of the three triple crowns. As a pilot program we are looking for
a company to put up the guaranteed $500.00 cash prize that we want to award
to the top competitor in the men’s freestyle class (money division) based
on aggregate scores posted for the three events in each triple crown.
This will give a little “extra” incentive for the top shooters to attend
all three events in each mini tour. If the program goes over well
this season, we may expand it next year to include additional sponsors
to cover other classes, or possibly look for a large corporate sponsor
that would be interested in supporting an award program that would cover
several classes as an exclusive title sponsor. As always, attendance
at the events will play a big part in sponsorship interest for the following
season.
Another program was added
this season to encourage general sponsorship for the NETAA tour.
There are three levels of sponsorship support (bronze, silver, and gold)
depending on how much a company can afford to do. The sponsorship
fees can be paid in cash or paid 50% cash and 50% in product. The
money received will be used to offset advertising and marketing expenses
to better promote the tour. The product we get will be used in two ways.
Small items will be used as door prizes at NETAA events, while large items
will be used in fund raising raffles for the Aim For College Program.
What we plan to do is give away an item or two on Saturday, and a few more
at the awards presentation on Sunday. Every registered shooter will
have their name entered into the drawing. There will be a requirement
that winners are present at the drawing, which is why we will have a drawing
on both days. Pre-registered shooters and Saturday registrations
will be in both drawings. Pre-registered shooters drawn in Saturday’s
drawing will have their prizes held over to Sunday (just another advantage
of pre-registration), but if they fail to arrive Sunday, another name will
be drawn.
This program should benefit
everyone. Our competitors will have a free chance to win some prizes
at each event, which we hope will help increase excitement and attendance.
We hope that this will encourage a few more people to stick around for
the awards as well. The sponsors will have an opportunity to get
their product into the hands of our members which will be great exposure
in addition to the promotion and marketing help they will get on our website
and in the newsletter. NETAA will have more resources to use to promote
the tour, which will increase attendance. This will be a “win-win-win”
situation for all involved.
GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP- We are happy to announce that the great people at Northern Building Systems have once again agreed to sponsor the annual Grand Championship Award program. They have committed to fund the $1,000.00 cash bonus for the Men’s Freestyle, and the $500.00 cash bonus for the Lady’s Freestyle award. Check out the website for more details on the competition.
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP- We are also very happy to announce that Pete Rickard has once again agreed to sponsor the annual team championship events at the 2001 World Games. Their $500.00 commitment will used to fund the $250.00 bonus money paid to the first place teams in the open and mixed divisions.
POPE & YOUNG SCORING- As an official P&Y measurer I can help our shooters get their North American animals scored for entry into the Pope & Young Record Book, without going out of their way. From now on, I will bring my measuring “stuff” to all NETAA shoots. If you have a trophy that may make the “book” and want it measured for entry, bring it to one of the NETAA shoots and I will measure it. If it makes the minimum score for entry, you will need to fill out a “fair chase affidavit” and provide four photos and a check for $25.00 made out to Pope & Young to get it entered. The photos include a field photo with you and the animal as well as pictures of the trophy from the left, right, and straight ahead. I charge nothing for this service.
Good shooting,
Roy Goodwin