COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA archers who make the teams for this year’s World Archery Youth Championships, World University Games or World Games will each receive financial support thanks to the Lancaster Archery Foundation (LAF).
USA Archery applied for a grant through the LAF, which was generously approved at a board meeting last Thursday. As a result, the LAF has committed to an incredible $28,000 in order to ease some of the financial burden on 44 young athletes.
The Lancaster Archery Foundation board stated, “It's a privilege for the Lancaster Archery Foundation to be able to help USA Archery athletes travel to prestigious tournaments around the world, where they can proudly represent the United States of America.
“Consistently having Team USA archers competing at the highest levels all over the world is one of the best motivations for younger generations to continue developing their competition skills, which is a primary mission of the Foundation.”
The 24 archers making the World Youth Championships - which take place in Winnipeg, Canada from August 17-24 – will each receive a $750 stipend. The 12 attending the World University Games in the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany from July 16-27, as well as the six to compete at the World Games in Chengdu, China from August 7-17, will each receive $500.
When the World Youth Championships were last held, in Limerick, Ireland in 2023, the USA returned home with a total of 10 medals, including a double gold medal for Dewey Hathaway.
Hathaway is among those seeking to make the 2025 team. Others hoping for a return to the Youth Championships include Liko Arreola, Joshua Baek, Cham Chung, Grady Kane, Emma Kim, Pierce McAdam, Gabrielle Sasai, Christian Stoddard and Riley Tateyama. Arreola, Kane, Sasai and Stoddard were all medalists two years ago.
Those who were alternates two years ago and aiming to make the team include Savannah O’Donohue, Patrick Nielsen, Akshara Vijay and Abigail Winterton, whose dad, Bart, won compound junior gold at the 1996 World Archery Youth Championships when they were held in Chula Vista, Calif.
U.S. Team Trials for the World Archery Youth Championships and Jr. Pan American Games will be held at the Easton Newberry Archery Center on April 23, prior to the start of the 2025 Easton Foundations Gator Cup. Registration for the Trials remains open until April 11.
The FISU World University Games, which began with 43 competing nations and 985 athletes in Italy in 1959, last welcomed more than 5,000 student-athletes from 116 countries when it was held in Chengdu, China in 2023. Alyssa Sturgill won silver in compound women for the USA.
The USA hosted in 1993 when held in Buffalo, NY. The 2029 edition will bring the world’s best student-athletes to North Carolina.
Germany hosts this year, for the first time since reunification. When last in this part of Europe, Germany was still divided, with the 1989 World University Games hosted by Duisburg, in what was part of West Germany.
Archery at the World University Games is relatively new. It was an optional sport from 2003-2015, with the sport absent in 2007 and 2013. It became compulsory from 2019 onwards.
Trials for the World University Games will form part of the HotelPlanner USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals. Registration for Collegiate Target Nationals closes on May 1.
The 2025 World Games will be the 12th installment of a multi-sport event first held in Santa Clara, Calif. in 1981 and last held in Birmingham, Ala. in 2022. Archery joined the program in 1985, when the event was in London, England. Thirty-five sports have been chosen for the 2025 World Games including, for the first time, cheerleading and powerboating.
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