USA Archery has announced the addition of a new program: the Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) Xperience, designed for camps, 4-H clubs and after-school programs. The JOAD Xperience is modeled after the JOAD program, which is designed to teach archery to young people age 6-20, over a series of classes taught by a certified archery instructor or coach.
The JOAD Xperience is a system of helping camp and school archery instructors to teach the basics of the National Training System, and reward beginning archers for achievement in the fundamental areas of archery range safety, basic shooting form, proper shot execution, practice, grouping arrows, and the ability to demonstrate techniques to others.
Open to archers of all ages, the JOAD Xperience itself charges no fee to the archers, and clubs can join the program for just $20 per year. Clubs may then elect to set their own fees for members in order to offset the cost of program materials. Any club or instructor may participate; USA Archery recommends that instructors have or obtain certification of Intermediate Instructor or higher.
"With camps and schools reaching so many young archers each year, it's important for USA Archery to reach out to those instructors," explains Denise Parker, USA Archery CEO. "Archers participating in the JOAD Xperience can be taught the fundamentals right from the beginning, and will be rewarded for learning the basics of our National Training System."
Through the JOAD Xperience Program, archers earn achievement awards each time they achieve one of their primary goals. To provide archers with a tangible award for their progress, JOAD Xperience Pins are available to order, along with lanyards, which allow the student to wear and display their pins. Many clubs will opt to have a special presentation each time an archer earns an award. To assist with presenting the awards, USA Archery also offers certificates for each pin, as well as a generic achievement certificate.
For more information about the JOAD Xperience program, contact National JOAD Coordinator Diane Watson.
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