GC&SU to host archery nationals
The archery club at Georgia College & State University is preparing to host the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championship (USIAC) in May 2005.
According to Teresa Taylor, third-year advisor of the archery club, the USIAC is “a national competition event for collegiate archery teams.”
“We are very pleased that our bid to host the championship was awarded to GC&SU,” Taylor said. “It requires a great deal of planning and paying close attention to details to ensure that all details to host a national event has been addressed. In preparation for the championship, we have secured a host hotel, we are soliciting donors, we are designing the awards ceremony and making sure we have all details planned in advance.”
This annual tournament is recognized by the National Archery Association and serves as the top-qualifying tournament for the World University Team. Approximately 160 to 200 archers from around the country will be given the chance to spend May 19-22 in Milledgeville at the GC&SU Intramural Complex at Bobcat Village.
The archery club has already begun to court various sponsors for the USIAC, the Coca-Cola Company being the most prominent sponsor. A few on-campus organizations have shown an interest in volunteering to sponsor as well, including Gamma Gamma Sigma, Gamma Beta Phi and the Office of Experiential Learning’s Leadership Certification Program. According to Mike Madison, president of the archery club, they are still searching for additional volunteers for this event.
“The 19th will be a practice day, while the 20th and 21st will be the initial competition round which helps determine the All-American team,” said Madison. “The 22nd is scheduled for the Olympic Round, which is a single-elimination round that determines the national champions.”
Aside from preparing to host the USIAC, the archery club has also been busy competing in National Archery Association tournaments. The divisions competed in are male and female recurve and male and female compound. Scores from the NAA National Indoor Championships and the USIAC are combined to rank the top ten individuals in each division. The top ten from each division are selected for the U.S. All-American archery club. The top twenty-five percent of NAA Indoor Championship finishers are invited to the All-Academic Team. Madison was selected to both of those teams.
“In our first and second years as a team, our archers went to the state competitions and individuals came away with state titles,” Taylor said. “This year, we will be going to selected tournaments in the fall and spring, but most of our focus this academic year will be preparing for [USIAC].”
This is the archery club’s third year at GC&SU and it has grown from 12 to 25 members this semester through word of mouth and Bobcat Marketplace.
“I’m very excited about the growth and interest the GC&SU archery club has generated this year,” Madison said. “Our officers and club members have shown a level of commitment and enjoyment [this year]. I believe that we have quite an eventful and challenging year ahead of us, but I’m confident that the team will meet those challenges with enthusiasm and rise to the occasion.”
The archery club is open to any who are interested, previous experience or not. Open practices are held Monday through Friday, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday on the third floor of Health Sciences in the HYPER Gym. For more information, or to volunteer for or sponsor the USIAC, contact President Mike Madison at james_madison@bobcat.gcsu.edu.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 1 2004. Filed under Sports.
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