Greetings fellow archers. Were you all confused when you read the column in the last issue? I sure was! It took a while to figure out what was wrong (the older I get, the slower!), but it finally dawned on me that this was the column I wrote just after the 2000 Championship. All the work I put into the new column went down the drain when I attached the wrong "September’ column to the e-mail to Dan (North American Bowhunter). Believe me when I say that I am sorry for the mix up. While on the topic of confusion, it is hard not to mention the terrorist attack on New York and resultant shock waves that have been sent through the country. While this may not yet have touched the lives of us all directly, I for one am feeling the effects in an indirect way. I find myself spending several hours a day glued to the TV and/or radio trying to keep posted on what is going on, and finding myself falling further and further behind on everything else I need to get done. I am certain I am not the only one, and therefore hope that everyone will understand if some things get a little further behind than normal. I apologize in advance if this effects any of our members in any way. On to archery!

2001 CHAMPIONSHIP – Those of you that were there already know what a successful event we had, for the others….. you missed a great tournament! Attendance was up slightly over last year, which is a great sign given the dual conflicts we faced. We lost shooters to both the ASA Classic and the Tupper Lake shoot in up State New York. We knew when we set the schedule that the ASA conflict existed and believed that it was a trade off we had to consider to avoid a conflict with the NYFAB State Championship. Unfortunately, the support we thought we would gain from NYFAB members did not materialize due in part to the Tupper Lake event. There are only so many weekends that will work for the tour, and no matter which we choose, there will be conflicts! Next year will be no better (see below).

Again, on the plus side our attendance was up demonstrating once again that NETAA is growing stronger and better accepted. The demographics of the Championship changed over last season more than expected. I knew we would loose a good deal of the top/pro archers to the ASA, but did not expect the numbers to fall off as badly as they did. Some of these archers went south (ASA) for the chance at "BIG" money, but about half went to Tupper Lake where there was less than half the money available to them as at NETAA. This demonstrates once again that the majority of pro and staff shooters in the Northeast will not support their regional organization even if we provide the financial incentive to do so. For this reason we made an important change in the Grand Championship Awards program this season that will carry forth for future seasons.

The Money Division contestants will no longer have the exclusive opportunity to compete for these awards. In the Men’s Classes, all contestants shooting 3D from the orange stakes, and competing in the 540 Championship, will have their scores automatically tabulated into the Grand Championship program. The gentleman with the highest combined score will receive the $1,000.00 bonus check, custom Grand Championship jacket, and huge trophy. Similarly, all ladies competing in 3D from the green stakes, and also competing in the 540 Championship, will be included in the Grand Championship tabulation with the overall winner receiving the bonus money, jacket, and trophy. (Note: Both Grand Champions will also receive their portion of the cash awards and respective trophies in each individual event based on their standings.) We noticed a significant increase in participation in the 540 Championship this year as well as in the 3D ladies classes. With more target qualifiers on the schedule for next year, and the additional incentive of opening the Grand Championship up to the open divisions, we are looking forward to significant additional participation in the 540 Championship next year as well. There are more target archers coming out to try NETAA because we shoot known distances, and we are getting more 3D archers trying their hand at target archery. This cross promotion is having the expected net effect of helping us grow enthusiasm for all forms of archery and will be the continued basis of our growth as time goes on.

There is not room here for all the results of the various events at the Championship, but the scores are all up on the NETAA web site and we hope you will all check them out there. We will print portions of the results in this column over the next few issues. I can tell you about our Grand Champions this month. In a hotly contested race for the over all Men’s Grand Championship Bill Romanchick was victorious. This earned him the $1,000.00 bonus check generously donated by Northern Building Systems. In addition Bill won the Male Money Freestyle 3D Championship and the Male Money Freestyle 540 Championship, making him the first contestant to win the "Grand Slam" of events at the Championship. He was also a member of both the open and mixed winning teams, earning additional prize money. Bill walked away from the awards presentation with over $2,000.00 in cash, a huge trophy, and a big smile! Sheila Huston was the overall Ladies winner, also taking first place in both the 3D and 540 Championship events. Sheila is an "open" division competitor, and seemed very pleased with the prize money, trophies, and jacket. Congratulations are in order to both these NETAA 2001 Grand Champions.

2002 GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP – The dust had not settled on this year’s Championship when the plans were finalized for next year’s exciting event. I am very pleased to announce that the Championship next year will be hosted by our friends at Gilbertsville Rod and Gun on August 22-25. Gilbertsville is no stranger to hosting NETAA tournaments as they have hosted the second leg of the New York Triple Crown the last two seasons, and done an excellent job of it! While Bruce Miller and his gang have always provided us a great shoot, Gilbertsville has the facilities and staff to take the Championship to the next level, which we find very exciting. I can only share some of the highlights in this column, but will follow up as the tour progresses. The important thing is to mark your calendars, you will not want to miss this one! The courses at Gilbertsville are laid out on much flatter ground making participation easier on our less mobile archers. At the same time, there is good distance between targets and wide lanes so we can assure no backups. The courses are beautiful, and everyone will really enjoy them. There is adequate room to set up a Championship level 540 Round and we will once again have a Bowhunter Proficiency round for the weekend. This will take care of the shooting requirements on a first class championship level! However, it takes more than that to take the Championship to the next level, and Gilbertsville has it all. The club facilities will provide a better organized registration area as well as room for a few exhibitors. Of course, there is always their "famous" kitchen! The full menu has not been finalized as yet, but it will include some of the best roast chicken you will ever eat and a pig barbeque at least one day. This all on top of a full menu of standard fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Outside the lodge there will be at least two tents. One will serve as a meeting area and the other will be available for additional exhibitors. By bringing exhibitors back to the annual Championship we hope to increase the excitement and festivities of the weekend. We had several companies approach us last season, but we just have not had the room to accommodate them. On top of all the above, and more things that will be added as time goes on, another significant advantage to this site is the availability and cost of rooms. I could never figure out why rooms around Middleburgh were over $125.00 per night, but they were always full, so they must know what they are doing! The rooms around Gilbertsville range more in the $45-55 range, which will make participation for the weekend almost $200.00 per family more affordable. Overall, the plan is to have a better Championship, with more to do and see, at significantly less cost. Lets all start spreading the word now to see if we cannot double attendance for next year.

CONFLICTS – As mentioned briefly above, we cannot seem to avoid conflicts with other events, there just are not enough weekends to accommodate all the archery shoots that are planned! Given that fact, we try to pick dates that minimize the negative impact of the conflicts. Next year will be no different. The fourth weekend in August (same as this year) 2002 will once again be the best choice for our Championship. It will also, once again, conflict with the ASA Classic. At this time, it appears that it will also conflict with Tupper Lake (we have been in touch with them and requested that they consider a date change to solve the problem). I have talked with dozens of people trying to find a solution, and here is what we are up against. The IBO moved their World Championship for next year one week later to the third weekend in August (they have always been the second weekend). We cannot succeed (in my opinion) holding a significant tournament on the same weekend as the IBO, which rules out that weekend (NYFAB also has their State Championship that weekend). Because we have a significant eleven State tour to finish (including three triple crowns!), and need several weeks between the last event and the Championship, we cannot hold the Championship in early August. The last weekend in August is Labor Day weekend, which is traditionally a family weekend as well as the start of hunting seasons in many states, therefore too late. I am sure the ASA feels as locked into this weekend as we do, and for the same reasons, although they were a week earlier until last year. This means that the top archers in the region will have to choose between NETAA and ASA, and we will loose some potential competitors. I have asked Tupper Lake to consider the second weekend in August to avoid the conflict. With no qualification tour to complete, they would not have the logistical road blocks we face with moving their shoot forward two weeks. If they agree, we have offered to cross promote each other’s events and even offered to allow their fine event to be a qualifier in the NETAA tour. If they agree, both events will be much better attended and the archers of New York will have two great events to attend rather than one. Everyone will be a winner, so we hope they give the proposition some serious reflection.

2002 SCHEDULE - We will be adding shoots all the time, but these are some major events already on the schedule for the 2002 season: Feb 2/3- 450 Qualifier, Lincoln Park, NJ Feb 9/10- Indoor Winter 3D Qualifier, Perth, NY Mar 16/17- 450 Qualifier, Pete Rickard Indoor Championship, Albany, NY Mar 23/24- 1st Leg Southern Triple Crown, Delaware County, Brookhaven, PA Apr 6/7- 1st Leg New York Triple Crown, Ti-Yogi Bowman, Hyde Park, NY Apr 27/28- 1st Leg New England Triple Crown, Sportsmen Inc, Brattleboro, VT May 18/19- 2nd Leg New England Triple Crown, Jaffery, NH Jun 1&2- 2nd Leg New York Triple Crown, Hudson Falls, NY Jun 8/9- 2nd Leg Southern Triple Crown, Limerick, PA Jun 28/30- Eastern NY State Championship (3D & 540), Archery Connection, Middleburgh, NY Jun 29/30- 3rd Leg New England triple Crown, Groton Sportsman, Groton, CT Jul 20/21- 3rd Leg Southern Triple Crown, Lincoln Park, NJ Jul 27/28- 3rd Leg New York Triple Crown, Gilbertsville, NY Aug 22/25- 2002 NETAA World Championship, Gilbertsville, NY At this time the final dates have not been set for the New England Indoor Championship (450 round), but the dates will be set and posted on the website with-in 30 days. There is a good chance that we will have a 540 qualifier in conjunction with the third leg of the New England Triple Crown (Groton, CT), but the final details have not been set. We are looking for additional qualifiers in central and western New York, across PA, in Maryland and Delaware, as well as in states outside the eleven state region. Sanctioning information is available on the NETAA website

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CLOSING- With hunting season in full swing, please be reminded to hunt safely. Enjoy your hunting and the upcoming holidays.

Good shooting,

Roy Goodwin