ATA to Help Fund Youth Archery in Canada
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4/16/09

SALT LAKE CITY - The Archery Trade Association (ATA) is helping introduce students to archery though Alberta's pilot program for the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), thanks to a $15,000 grant to Alberta's Hunter Education Instructors Association (AHEIA).

"The AHEIA is all about education and helping students," said Michelle Doerr, the ATA's director of archery and bowhunting programs. "By working with a group that's deeply integrated into the province's educational system, the ATA ensures its long-term investment in Alberta's archery programs. The AHEIA has been active with Alberta's school system for many years. In working with its leaders in recent months, we quickly realized they have the expertise, commitment and experience to make NASP a permanent part of the province's school curriculum."

Instructors for Alberta's NASP pilot will be selected from teachers already using AHEIA education programs, not through physical education instructors as has been done in the United States. AHEIA will certify NASP instructors through a free class and provide two NASP kits for the training program. The goal is to offer about six training sessions annually.

"This is what we do," said Dave Paplawski, conservation education coordinator for AHEIA. "The province is very protective of the school curriculum and doesn't let just any group into its schools. We're blessed here because the wildlife-related programs we teach fall into the existing curriculum. NASP is a perfect fit for us. It was readily accepted when we talked to the schools, and will broaden our offerings, and it will be popular with our students."

AHEIA has 12 full-time staff members and is governed by a 17-member board of directors. It reaches about 25,000 people each year with its conservation education programs, and more than 15,000 annually with firearms safety courses. In addition, 20,000 other students attend AHEIA programs such as fishing education, youth camps, outdoor women's seminars and outdoor camps.

Since 2004, the ATA has provided funding totaling approximately $884,000 - including grants for archery programs provided through Community Archery Programs (CAP) - to state and provincial wildlife agencies to initiate NASP in the United States and Canada. CAP promotes NASP as a key introduction to archery, works to make the sport available in local community recreation programs and funds the shooting facilities all archers need to participate in shooting year round. The ATA has also contributed nearly $960,000 in CAP grants, equipment and direct aid to state wildlife agencies to grow archery and expand bowhunting opportunities.

For more information about the ATA's efforts to grow archery and bowhunting, please contact Michelle Doerr at michelledoerr@archerytrade.org or call (320) 562-2680.

About the ATA: Since 1953, ATA has been the trade association for manufacturers, retailers, distributors, sales representatives and others working in the archery and bowhunting industry. ATA is dedicated to making the archery and bowhunting industry profitable by decreasing business overhead, reducing taxes and government regulation and by increasing participation in archery and bowhunting. ATA owns and manages the ATA Trade Show, the archery and bowhunting industry's longest running and largest trade show worldwide.
Contact:
Amy Hatfield (803) 685-3717 or amyhatfield@archerytrade.org