Kentucky archers are in a class of their own when it comes to the National Archery in Schools Program

GUSTON, Ky. – Before the whirlwind of Olympic activities began last August, Kentucky welcomed its own group of champions after the National Archery in Schools Program NASP® Championship Tournament held last June in Daytona.

Jake Hobbs, a member of the Flaherty Elementary archery team, is one of the thousands of Kentucky students who participate in this archery program. The Meade County student returned from this year's tournament as the elementary-level boy’s champion.

Jake, a member of the Flaherty Elementary archery team, participates in a program that has exploded in popularity since its creation by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources in conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Education and Mathews Archery.

“I got started in archery because I had a cousin and another friend doing it but after the first few practices and first tournament I debated on quitting because it wasn’t good,” he said.

Jake’s mom Nancy who serves as one of the assistant coaches on his team reiterated that noting his first tournament score was 111. A perfect score for what is called the bullseye competition is 300.

“Yes, that first tournament was terrible, and I thought that would be it and we had given it a shot,” she said.

But Jake decided to keep trying and with persistence and practice he ended up with a few awards in his first year. It would only get better, and his scores began to bump up from there into the 290s.

At that level, Jake and other Kentucky NASP® participants are scoring at national levels. Nancy said that has certainly not gone to Jake’s head.

“He practices every single night, and he wants to improve with each tournament but he's very humble about it,” she said. “Now that he has reached the level he has, Jake gets as much enjoyment out of helping other students improve their skills.”

Jake said his head coach allows him and another archer on the team to help with the other students who may be having a difficult time.

Angie Peterson, the head coach for the Flaherty Elementary archery team, has watched Jake and others step up in scoring and skills over time.

“I had four archers this year that were close in top scoring, and it really was a dream team,” she said. “So, it was a blessing to have those four at the same time.”

As much individual attention Jake has gotten since winning his championship, Petersen said his top priority has nothing to do with himself.

“He worries about the team in general and he wants everyone to be scoring their best, because not only does he want to win, he wants the team also to win in the team division,” she said.

NASP® teams participate in tournaments throughout their season to qualify for the state, national, and championship tournaments.  

Dr. Tommy Floyd, NASP® President, said having been involved in the program since it began, he never thought it would reach the level that it is today.

“Since NASP® began, we have had 23.5 million students participate and it’s the largest youth archery organization in the world,” he said. “I never dreamed that it would become something in 49 states, 10 Canadian provinces, British Virgin Islands, and New Zealand.”

The program was developed with an educational component that it would be taught in the schools, as well as being a sports activity. Floyd, who has spent a lifelong career in education, said NASP® is a program that can help students be engaged in the schools.

“I'd say that 68 percent of our kids say that it helps connect them with their school and 34 percent say NASP® was a motivating factor to them, based on the 2024 NASP® Student Survey data,” he said. “So, here you have any Kentucky school district and every leader in every school district looking for a way to engage their students. We believe that NASP® has proven itself to be that possible organization that they should consider.”

Another unique aspect of NASP® is the fact that each archer, no matter their age or skill level participates with the same equipment with the same rules.

“Everybody shoots the same bow, the same arrow, and everybody shoots from the 10-meter and 15-meter distance,” Floyd said. “There are no sights, there are no releases, and yet we have some students who can perform unbelievably here in Kentucky and elsewhere with that bow and arrow combo from those distances at our championship tournament. But if you talk to these archers what you learn immediately is they're not just incredible with the bow and arrow, they're incredible young people.”

Several Kentucky students turned in outstanding performances at the recent national championship. Lisa Johnson serves as the Kentucky NASP® director said 8,493 student archers representing 416 Kentucky schools participated in the 2024 Kentucky NASP® State Tournament bullseye competition with another 2,608 participating in the State IBO/3D Challenge.

The IBO/3D challenge became a part of the NASP® National Tournament in 2014 and has students shooting at 3D animal targets as opposed to the traditional bullseye target.

 “Not only are we proud of all our participating schools and student’s archery success, we are proud of the student’s academic success,” Johnson said. “NASP® encourages all Basic Archery Instructors to track their archer’s academic achievement. Honor Roll students can be designated as “Academic Archers” by their coaches for achieving honor roll status at their school.  During the 2023-2024 school year, Kentucky had 8,283 students designated as “Academic Archers”!  The largest number of honor roll archers than any other state.”

The following is a list of Kentucky winners at this year's National Championship:

Madison Central High School placed 3rd as a team in the NASP® Championship Bullseye tournament

Bullseye Tournament
Elementary Individuals:

Jake Hobbs from Flaherty Elementary placed 1st as elementary boy with a score of 291

Elijah Lamb from Paint Lick Elem placed 3rd as elementary boy with a score of 285

Zane Iery from Greysbranch Elem placed 4th as elementary boy with a core of 284

DeLanie Ryan from Morgantown Elem placed 4th as elementary girl with a score of 284

Bullseye Tournament
Middle School Individuals:

Kimber Collins from Jenkins Middle placed 1st as middle school girl with a score of 294

Luke Montgomery from Herald Whitaker Middle placed 3rd as middle boy with a score of 292

Bullseye Tournament
High School Individuals:

Alanah Bryant from Anderson County High placed 2nd as high school girl with a score of 296

NASP® Championship IBO/3D Challenge
Elementary Individuals:

Elijah Lamb from Paint Lick Elementary placed 1st as elementary boy with a score of 289

NASP® Championship IBO/3D Challenge
Middle School Individuals:

Luke Montgomery from Herald Whitaker Middle placed 1st as middle boy with a score of 295

Kimber Collins from Jenkins Middle placed 1st as middle school girl with a score of 295

NASP® Championship IBO/3D Challenge
High School Individuals:

Alanah Bryant from Anderson County High placed 4th as high school girl with a score of 293

During Jake Hobbs’ national championship run, he was in doubt as to whether he had won or not as he finished with a 291 score.

“I wasn’t sure I could win with that score because there were a lot of archers there who could also shoot that kind of a score,” he said. “Besides, it wasn't the highest score I had ever shot which was a 296.”

But on that day, in that tournament, he came away tops in his category, a national champion. Jake has one archery goal in mind now, and that is to shoot a perfect score of 300. What seemed impossible when he first started now seems to be well within his grasp.

“That’s my goal, to shoot a perfect 300,” he said. “Once I do that, I’m not sure I will continue in the archery program. There won’t seem to be any place to go after that. On to bigger and better things.”