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Archery - J.O.A.D. |
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Q.
I keep hearing about J.O.A.D. What exactly is J.O.A.D.? A.
J.O.A.D. Stands for Junior Olympic Archery Development. It is a program
supervised by the National Archery Association. The N.A.A. is part of the U.S.
Olympic Committee. They certify the coaches, set the training goals and
oversee any local, regional and national competition. Q.
What do you mean by
Junior? A.
Ages 6 to 17 although we do have some 5-year-olds.
Q.
What
is Olympic Archery? A.
Strictly speaking it is; recurve bow, adjustable front sight, no peep
in string and
string held and released by fingers only. We
do teach compound and release shooters also. We
do not teach instinctive shooting. Q. You mentioned that the N.A.A. sets training goals, explain. A.
Think of archery as a martial art. In other martial arts you earn belts. In
archery you earn badges. To earn these badges you must meet the same
requirements at any J.O.A.D. club in the country. Therefore a student who has
earned his archers badge with us has met the same requirements as someone in
California or New York or Florida.
Q.
How many
badges are there and how are they earned? A.
There is 11 badges ranging from Qualified Archer to Golden Olympian. Think
of them as levels of proficiency. There
are indoor badges and outdoor badges. You
must shoot a certain minimum score at a designated distance to earn each
badge. Indoors
starts at 9 meters for beginners and then moves to 18 meters. Target
size is 60cm for recurve and 40 cm for compounds. They
start with a score of 50 for Qualified Archer and go up to 300 for Golden
Olympian. This is out of a possible 300. Outdoor
distances start at 15 meters and go to 70 meters on a 122 cm target. Scores
range from 130 at 15 meters for Qualified Archer to 285 at 70 meters for Golden Olympian.
Q.
Competition?
Must they compete? A.
Only on the club level to earn their badges. Some
clubs insist that they compete on at least the local level, we do not. We only
want them to learn how to shoot the bow safely and to have fun. If they want to
compete that is their decision. Out of 50 students we wave only 4 that compete
regularly. Fortunately these 4 are some of the best young archers in the country.
Q.
Do I have to be a Western Wayne member? A.
No. Lessons
are open to nonmembers. Students become members of Western Wayne J.O.A.D. but
you do not have to join W.W.C.C.A. Q.
Do / need equipment? A. No We
have plenty of equipment for beginners although they may have to share a bow on
occasions.
Q.
When are lessons? A.
The winter session runs from the first Tues. in Jan. until the last Tues.
in March.
6P.M. for beginners and intermediate and 7.30P.M. for advanced students. The
summer session runs from the first Tues in June until the last Tues. in August.
6 P.M. until 8 P.M. Q.
Are there
adult lessons? A.
Due to space considerations, only in summer. Q.
Don't some
clubs have lessons all year? A.
Yes some do. They
have a full time indoor range and many more coaches than we have. Al Ouellette
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