Williamsburg, KY – The Scholastic Archery Association (S3DA) held their 10th Annual S3DA 3D National Championship in collaboration with the Rend Lake Area Tourism Council, the Rend Lake Project Office & Visitor Center, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the North Marcum Multiple Resource Area in Rend Lake, Illinois. Rend Lake is a premier location for fishing, hiking, wildlife watching and a host of other activities. S3DA archers and their families were amazed at the abundance of wildlife viewing opportunities available on-site, up-close, and personal. Nearly 700 youth archers from across the nation participated for their chance to be crowned a “National Champion” in their division and class.

Holly Helton, S3DA Executive Director stated, “With the worldwide chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, we had to put on hold the decision to host the 3D National Championship at Rend Lake, due mainly to local restrictions, opting instead to duplicate hosting locations from ASA Pro/Am’s. We are genuinely excited to finally be able to come to Rend Lake and introduce our S3DA families to the recreation, conservation, and tournament experience this site has to offer. S3DA 3D events have historically been held at locations that were already established tournament sites. Rend Lake Staff did an amazing job putting in the groundwork of making this event a huge success and we look forward to working with them for future events!”

The event also featured the Delta McKenzie North American Big Game Bowhunting Challenge as well as the Heath McDonald Long Shot Challenge both of which Delta McKenzie Targets sponsors. The North American Big Game Bowhunting Challenge features adult/child teams who both shoot various 3D big game targets such as grizzly, elk, and caribou. Once both team members have completed the course, their scores are tallied and compared against other archers in the student’s division and class. This brings family involvement together as well as tying into the conservation aspect of the S3DA program.

S3DA sponsoring organizations Lancaster Archery Supply, Bohning, Mantis, Mark’s 3D Targets, Hoyt Archery, and a host of other vendors were on-site to market products to archers and their families. In fact, Lancaster Archery Supply and Hoyt Archery teamed up to help S3DA archer, Danika Stillwagon from Team On-Point S3DA in Georgia when she experienced an equipment failure at the start of the event. With a twelve-hour drive and two targets in, Danika’s father was in desperate need to purchase a bow for Danika to be able to finish the competition. Check out the complete story from Danika here!

Collegiate archery programs (University of the Cumberland’s, Union College, Lindsey Wilson, Southern Illinois College, Campbellsville University, Kentucky Christian, etc.) were on hand to offer high school archers with significant scholarship opportunities during the event. Collegiate coaches, range officials, and volunteers facilitated the Young Adult and Youth division shoot-downs for awarding of the final podium finishes which was enjoyed by everyone in attendance.

S3DA would like to thank Mike Tyrell and the Archery Shooters Association (ASA) for all their support in making this event possible for the past 10 years and hopefully many more to come! A successful event such as this would not be possible without dedicated parents, coaches, and Regional/State Coordinators who volunteer their time selflessly to make sure that these archers are not only focused and safe, but most of all are having fun and developing a passion for the outdoors. Many thanks to the sponsors, vendors, and volunteers who come to help our youth archers have a truly wonderful and satisfying experience. Thank you to the parents and coaches of S3DA student archers for taking the time off work and coordinating your busy schedules to make the S3DA 3D National Championship a one-of-a-kind youth sports experience.

About Scholastic 3-D Archery

Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA) is a unique, family-oriented youth archery program which has grown exponentially across the United States as a next-step initiative to follow introductory archery programs. The mission of the Scholastic

3-D Archery program is to foster, educate and guide youth in the areas of 3D, indoor target, and outdoor target archery as well as safe, ethical bowhunting practices. The goal of the S3DA program is to provide archery and bowhunting opportunities to youth in after-school settings, as well as with archery-affiliated clubs and businesses in the community. S3DA youth participate in 3-D and target archery using compound and traditional archery equipment. Youth members can participate at regional, state and national archery events and earn college scholarships from colleges and universities across the United States. S3DA addresses the need for a program to bridge beginning target archery experience and more advanced activities such as 3-D shooting and bowhunting. The program currently operates across the United States with hundreds of certified coaches serving thousands of youth archers.

Contact the Scholastic 3-D Archery National Office at:

www.s3da.org or 410 Sycamore Street, Williamsburg, KY 40769, Ph: 606.524.3685

Media contact Kayla Bolton at kayla@s3da.org, Ph: 423.494.2204