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Williamsburg, KY – Illinois S3DA hosted their first Indoor event of the 2023 competition season in Peoria, Illinois. The Illinois S3DA Midwest Open Indoor Regional Qualifier was held in conjunction with the Midwest Open Archery Tournament at the Peoria Civic Center. The Midwest Open Archery Tournament is a 501c3 organization hosting the 15th annual tournament. Over 200+ competitors participated in the Midwest Open Archery Tournament with fifty-four of those being S3DA youth archers. The S3DA youth archers shared an evening line to have over 100+ archers competing at the same time. Youth archers of various ages and equipment classes were in attendance from eleven S3DA teams, including eight guests from Michigan and Wisconsin.
This tournament allowed S3DA youth archers the opportunity to compete in a premiere facility and experience competition similar to other big events. The support system that surrounds these archers is quite impressive. The spectator area was brimming with lots of supportive parents, grandparents, siblings, and coaches. Many of the out of state guests were excited about the opportunity to compete and meet archers from other states. Several families were happy to have the option to shoot a Friday evening event to keep their December weekends free. Many of the S3DA youth archers competing finished at the top of their class for the first time. Four archers (Trip Higgins, Klayre Smith, Jayden Gerberding, and Jacob Nusz) were able to shoot a clean 150. Also, many S3DA alum competed and finished well.
Illinois S3DA State Coordinator, Steven Groom stated, “We knew it would be a great place to showcase our S3DA archers. They came in hungry and competitive right from the beginning of the Indoor competition season. We were very happy to kick-off our season in conjunction with one of the bigger archery events in Illinois. The Midwest Open is known for being a well-ran tournament that feels like a national event closer to home. This year did not disappoint! We had a great turnout and are looking forward to an impressive Indoor season with new and returning Illinois S3DA archers.”
Sarah Merano, parent of Young Adult Pins archer, Zacharia Cotter, said “This is our families first season doing Indoor competitions and we really enjoy the archery community. We have been invited in and made to feel welcome. The community is so fun and supportive. It is great seeing the archers cheering each other on and having fun together. We had a blast and are already making plans to come back to this event next year.”
“I am so proud of this girl! She wasn’t even planning to shoot the Midwest Open this year but signed up at the last minute and finished first in her respective class and division. We are already looking forward to next years event,” stated Nate Frankfather, parent of Eagle Pins archer, Peyton Frankfather.
For more information on the Illinois S3DA program, be sure to check out the Illinois S3DA Facebook page.
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