Wednesday, January 29, 2025

NASP Archery Certification Program

On Thursday, January 16, from 10 am-3 pm at the MEC, the National Archery in the Schools Program(NASP), led by instructor Tim Watts from the Peterborough region, delivered a certification program to Sagamok community members and some staff from the Education and Community Wellness departments. The program was for anyone planning on teaching archery: both first-time certification for new archery trainers as well as re-certification for those previously licensed but who needed renewal.  Tim has over 20 years of experience in ‘How to Train the Trainers of Archery programs’ and has visited Sagamok in the past to bring this specialized program. Michael Abitong organized this program and coordinated bringing it to Sagamok for anyone over 18 to access.

Laura, Tim, and Michael at the NASP Archery Certification program at the MEC.

NASP is an archery program offered in over 30,000 schools worldwide! It originated in Kentucky, focusing on school instruction and incorporation into the curriculum, training adults to train students. Gym teachers or land-based instructors receive licensing to train students in the fundamentals. NASP began offering training/certification in 2014 in Ontario. Over ten years, Ontario has grown to 220 active school programs, of which 39 are First Nation communities, making it the third largest provincial program with many schools actively offering archery. Interestingly, NASP began in Alberta and Saskatchewan way back in 2002! Tim did the math and provided that if you figure 220 schools with approximately 75 kids per school taking archery lessons, that equates to 15-18,000 kids exploring archery. He said that ‘when a school offers an ‘after-school’ program, quite often, it only engages those kids who were aware of it or had the opportunity to attend; not everyone has the same opportunities. So, with this specialized training given to Teachers on-site, the opportunity for whole classrooms of children to explore archery is now offered.’

That’s the goal: archery programs integrated within the school curriculum to allow more kids to try it out. Tim added that Community Special Interest Programs, Summer Camps, and School Programs are the most common, and the kids highly seek archery programming. Generally, the NASP-certified programs are for Grades 4-12. When offered by a trained instructor with proper knowledge, equipment, and skills, archery opportunities are fun and engaging and have practical value for hunting/obtaining food. A typical school program runs for about 3-5 days to cover the information correctly. It is sold to schools at the manufacturer’s cost to generate interest and a new generation of archers. NASP is a membership-based OFAH(Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters). Tim noted that Quebec had just signed as the 10th province offering archery training!

Archery course set up in the MEC.

Sagamok owns its own set of bows, provided primarily by NASP and manufacturer sponsorship, offering an opportunity for archery training and exposure to students of Biidaaban and EHS through certified staff members. Easton sponsors the aluminum arrows, and Matthews is the title sponsor of the bows.

In the Trainers Certification program, Tim teaches archery instructors to:

·      ensure that safety protocols and practices are in place and adhered to

·      file annual report documentation

·      noting archery events held and number of participants

This reporting helps record interest levels and keep the Trainers’ licensing active. Tim’s training course was set up in the MEC with a series of bows lined up on one side of the course, target bags at the other end, and safety netting in place. A catered lunch was included and enjoyed as part of the training session.

Registration for this event was encouraged via a poster advertisement on the community’s digital signs, on the Sagamok Anishnawbek website, and on the Members of Sagamok FaceBook page. Check out the many programs and services offered in Sagamok via these communication channels.