COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Following an announcement regarding several event rule updates this past October, USA Archery carefully considered feedback and resultantly compiled a task force to further review the proposed changes related to eligibility for participation at national events. The task force made a recommendation to the USA Archery Board of Directors, which was approved and is going into immediate effect.
From this discussion, and with Board approval, it has been decided that any USA Archery member in good standing is eligible to compete at USAT series events, including international archers.
Additionally, based on the task force's feedback, the event format for U.S. National Target Championships and the U.S. Open was returned to where it was prior to any changes. Regarding eligibility for participation at the National Target Championships, the Board approved that any USA Archery member in good standing who is a U.S. Citizen is eligible to compete in the National Target Championships and U.S. Open. Additionally, if an athlete is not a U.S. Citizen but has the written permission of, and will no longer be competing for, the Member Association of the country from which he/she has a valid passport they will also be allowed to shoot for a national title.
Athletes affiliated with other World Archery Member associations, or those who do not meet the above criteria, will be allowed to participate in a Guest Division for the Qualification rounds. Guest divisions will be offered to Masters (combined-not broken out) and Senior divisions. Guests will be allowed to compete in the U.S. Open Elimination Round. Qualification scores from the National Target Championships and the Qualification Rounds for the Guest divisions will be merged together to determine the seeding for the U.S. Open Elimination Round similar to years past.
The same rules will apply for JOAD Nationals Qualification Rounds, and guest divisions will be offered to Junior, Cadet, Cub and Bowman age categories. Guests will also be eligible to participate in the Team Round. Guests will not eligible to participate in the Elimination Round at JOAD Nationals.
The National Ranking System (NRS) is provided for USA Archery members in good standing who are U.S. Citizens or those who have the written permission of, and are no longer competing for, the Member Association of the country from which he/she has a valid passport to earn NRS Ranking. The same criteria applies for any archer to qualify for a United States Archery Team.
Regarding international event eligibility, U.S. Citizens are eligible to compete for the U.S. at World Cup and World Championship competitions. If an athlete is not a U.S. Citizen they must have met the following World Archery requirements to compete for the United States; a) obtained the written permission of the Member Association of the country from which he/she has a valid passport, b) resided in the U.S. for at least one year before the date of the competition and c) not have represented any other Member Association as a National Team Member for at least one year before the date of the competition.
USA Archery greatly appreciates our members' feedback and we are excited to continue working together to create better events for our members. We look forward to seeing you at our events this year. The 2017 National Events schedule can be viewed here. Stay tuned here for registration for all USA Archery sanctioned events.
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