Student archers from across the state to gather for Archery in the Schools tournament March 12-13

Student archers from across Kentucky will take aim March 12-13 at the Kentucky Exposition Center as one of the largest school archery tournaments in the country returns to Louisville.

The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) is an in-school archery program for students in grades four through 12 that was first piloted in Kentucky. Schools across Northern Kentucky, public and private, have archery programs.

Additional health and safety measures will be implemented as part of this year’s Kentucky NASP state tournament. The tournament will be held in accordance with Healthy at Work guidelines and the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Healthy at Sports guidance.

The Kentucky NASP state tournament mirrors the program’s expanding popularity, growing into the largest NASP state tournament in the United States. It moved to the Kentucky Exposition Center in 2017.

Normally attracting upward of 8,000 participants, this year’s tournament will be scaled down and feature far fewer participants and no spectators beyond the two allowed per archer.

Organizers expect more than 5,600 archers representing at least 310 schools for the bullseye tournament. The NASP/International Bowhunting Organization 3D Challenge state tournament will be held in a different area of the Kentucky Exposition Center.

Competition starts at 10 a.m. (EST) on March 12 and 9 a.m. on March 13. Contestants will be spread out across more than 670,000 square feet in the North and South wings and East Hall.

Special measures that will be in place for this year’s tournament include:

(Photo from Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources)

• Separate entrances and exits to reduce contact points and control the number of people entering the facility;

• Required temperature checks for anyone entering the facility;

• Free admission;

• No provided seating;

• Face masks will be required to be worn while inside the facility;

• Archery targets will be spaced 6-feet apart and only one archer will be assigned to each target lane;

• Archers in the next flight will wait in the middle to western portion of the wings while the archers in the current flight will be on the eastern side shooting toward the targets;

• Archers and teams that have completed their flights will be instructed to leave the facility;

• Bow racks, quivers and targets will be sanitized after each flight; and

• No merchandise vendors or food vendors.

Tournament organizers developed health and safety procedures for this year’s event based on best practices and recent events hosted by Kentucky venues such as the National Street Rod Association Street Rod Nationals, Kentucky State Fair and the North American International Livestock Exposition. Similar guidelines were used for the Kentucky Winter Classic, a gymnastics event at the Kentucky International Convention Center.

The Kentucky Exposition Center has been accredited as a GBAC Star facility by Global Biorisk Advisory Council. Learn more about Kentucky Exposition Center procedures at kyexpo.org.