Greetings fellow archers. The NETAA 2001 tournament tour will have come to a close by the time this column reaches you, however the World Championship is still three weeks away as this column goes to the printer. I will provide a full report of the Championship in our next column, but am optimistic that we will have one of the best championships ever based on attendance thus far on the tour and the early registrations we have received.
NEW ENGLAND TRIPLE CROWN- This season’s New England mini tour ended on a fine note at the Groton Sportsmen’s Club in Conn. It was the first time we ran a triple crown event as a one-day shoot, but all went well, and attendance was up approximately 10% over the same event last season. This slight increase in attendance held consistently for all three events in the mini tour, and hopefully is an indication of continued growth/support in the six New England States.
The dates have been set for next season and the locations for at least the first two legs will remain the same as the past several years. Negotiations are proceeding with a couple clubs in Connecticut to host the third leg, and we hope to be able to announce the exact location of the third leg at the World Championship in August (as well as in this column next issue!).
SOUTHERN TRIPLE CROWN- The southern triple crown got off to a rocky start this, it’s first, season. Attendance was lower than we hoped at the first two legs partially due to breaking into new areas, and partially due to a poor advertising/promotion plan. Getting the final dates and host sites tied down took until late winter, which hurt the promotional plan significantly. In spite of the slow start, however the mini tour ended on a high note at Lincoln Park Archers in New Jersey, where we had the best-attended 3D shoot of the entire season! We accomplished this in spite of steady rain on Sunday, which certainly hurt the total potential attendance.
There were other very encouraging things about this mini tour as well. We met many new archers, and picked up many new members, from both New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the tour. A number of clubs from Pennsylvania have stepped forward requesting to either host part of the tour next season or to hold State level NETAA qualifiers. This will certainly lead to more qualifiers next season, as well as better attendance and a more successful Championship. I only wish we would have moved down to this area a few years back!
The fine fellows at Lincoln Park Archers also proved something that we have suspected for a couple months. They sent out a special mailer to local archers advising them that NETAA has opened a new “non-competitive” division at major shoots. This new “miscellaneous division” requires only a $15.00 registration fee, and is open to anyone that might want to come and participate at a non-competitive level. There are no awards, no qualification status to the annual Championship, and no portion of the registration fee goes into the overall prize fund for the Championship (which is how we reduce the registration fee so dramatically!). What this does, however, is give local archers an opportunity to come and try a 40 target 3D course at known distances to see how they like it at not much more than they would pay to shoot 30 targets at their local club. It creates additional revenue for our host sites and exposes NETAA to archers we would not otherwise get to meet. The expectation is that some of these archers will become “competitive” some time in the future and get more involved with NETAA when they are ready. The additional mailer brought us 35 shooters that I am confident we would not have seen otherwise and contributed to the great success of the event. It also reinforces our plans to expand and promote this new division for next season!
NEW YORK TRIPLE CROWN- The dust has hardly settled from the third leg in Middleburgh as I type this column, yet I can say without doubt that the shoot was a great success. Attendance was up for the third year in a row, and enthusiasm for the upcoming Championship was high among almost all in attendance. Bruce Miller, once again, did a fine job hosting us, and put forth a very challenging course for all to enjoy.
There was a lot of “undercurrent” conversation all weekend about the fact that the Championship will not be held in Middleburgh next season. Many people approached Bruce to ask what was wrong. To set the record straight, nothing went wrong! Bruce Miller, Archery Connection, and NETAA are all on the best of terms. In fact, Bruce will be holding the NETAA Eastern New York State 3D/540 Qualifier next season at Archery Connection the weekend of June 22-23.
Bruce’s decision to pass on the Championship next season was based partially on his desire to take a break from the work involved, and partially because he believes it is in the best interest of NETAA to move on. At this time he does not have the facilities to accommodate exhibitors (which we intend to add to the Championship next season), and he does not have the kitchen facilities we need to bring the Championship to the next level. Bruce has been, and continues to be, a fine supporter of the NETAA tour and organization, and we look forward to the continuation of that relationship in the years to come.
There are some very exciting changes to report for next season’s New York triple Crown that have all been finalized. Gilbertsville Rod & Gun has informed us that the board has approved our request that they host the 2002 NETAA Outdoor World Championship. To hold our precedent of having the third leg of the New York Triple Crown, and Last Chance 540 Qualifier, at the same site as the Championship, we have moved the Third leg to Gilbertsville. They have done an outstanding job of hosting the second leg the past two years, and we are very excited about getting them more involved next season. Dave Russell and the rest of the members up at Hudson Falls have agreed to take the second leg next season, leaving the first leg at TiYogi Bowman in Hyde Park. By moving one leg to Hudson Falls we will reach out to many new archers north of Albany without stretching the mini tour out a prohibitive distance. This, in combination with the added Eastern NY State Championship in Middleburgh, will help us better cover the Eastern part of the State.
2001 OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP- As mentioned above, all indications are that this year’s Championship will be the best ever, and a full report will follow. We are trying something new this year that will be announced with the confirmation letters to all registered contestants. Every registered contestant will be allowed to invite one non qualified guest to the Championship. These invited guests will be allowed to shoot in a noncompetitive “guest” division at a substantially reduced registration fee. Following the lead of the new “misc” division at our other events, this “guest” division will help us introduce new archers to the NETAA tour while building attendance at the Championship. Of course, everyone is encouraged to come to the Championship and shoot the 30 target Bowhunter Proficiency round, and check us out. The sooner we get the attendance up at this annual Championship, the faster we can get both sponsorship and exhibitor interest/participation.
INDOOR WINTER QUALIFIER- We have recently made the final arrangements to bring back the Indoor Winter 3D Qualifier to the NETAA tour. There will be more information in the next issue, but I can tell you that the location is in Eastern New York and that the dates are just two weeks before the Springfield Indoor Championship Next February. This will provide an ideal opportunity for archers to get their NETAA qualification out of the way early in the tour, and a great “warm-up” for Springfield.
WEB SITE- The fellow helping us develop and maintain the NETAA website has had to step down for personal reasons, putting us a bit behind keeping the site up-to-date with recent scores and news items. We hope to have this problem resolved by the time you read this, and apologize for any delays this has caused in getting information out to our members.
2002 CHAMPIONSHIP- As mentioned above, Gilbertsville Rod & Gun will host the 2002 NETAA Outdoor World Championship. The dates are set for August 22-25, and plans are underway to make this the very best NETAA Championship ever! All our members that have been to Gilbertsville are as excited as I am, and for good reason! The club puts on an un-improvable 3D shoot, on some of the very best archery courses I have ever seen. The courses are level making participation possible/easy for even those less mobile archers. The problems we have occasionally had in the past with steep grades and slippery footing, are resolved at Gilbertsville! My life will be made easier with a good indoor registration area, but everyone will enjoy the great kitchen facilities/staff. Gilbertsville has become famous for their barbequed chicken, and we will see a lot of that next season, but they have promised to give us some variety with a pig roast on Saturday as well! There will be room for a number of manufacturers to exhibit and we hope to have a traveling pro shop or two on site. Another big advantage is the availability of hotel rooms at “reasonable” prices in the area and many area attractions that will make the Championship a fun time for the entire family. There are other details that we will get into in future issues, but the important thing is to make your calendar for the best NETAA Championship ever next August!
Good shooting,
Roy Goodwin