# Starting a Archery Club in College + Joining Collegiate Archery



## RyanH_C (Feb 11, 2017)

Hey Guys!

A couple friends and I are trying to start and Archery Club at our university and had a few questions. We're looking for a collegiate archery program to join after forming and saw that there were two options?

TeamUSA Collegiate program and USCA 

It seems like TeamUSA is more up to date but was wondering if anyone else had some experience with this. I would appreciate any feedback! All tips help . 

Thanks a lot!


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## XForce Girl (Feb 14, 2008)

Team USA Collegiate program has college teams that compete in the Collegiate division against other colleges and at USA Archery events.
Locally we have JMU who has a great team.
Their team is competing in our state championship this weekend.
As for starting a team, contact USA Archery and they can tell you what to do to get started


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## JF from VA (Dec 5, 2002)

You might want to also contact Bob Ryder, former coach at JMU. I believe he is on Facebook and his phone, as listed on the USA Archery coach locator, is 5404333150.


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## XForce Girl (Feb 14, 2008)

Andy Puckett is the coach at JMU now.
Bob is *retired" so to speak.
As retired as an Archery coach can be I guess.

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## RyanH_C (Feb 11, 2017)

Oh! I was meaning to send them JMU's team a message. I'm not too far away from them. At George Mason. Sounds good guys, thanks a lot!

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## NOVABB (Feb 7, 2013)

I would look on USA Archery's JOAD page and contact these clubs to see if they are interested in expanding to include a collegiate program. The Archery Program's coach is a Olympian and was the coach for the Virgin Island Olympic Archery Team and I think GMU's Skeet & Trap team already use the Bull Run Shooting Centers ranges so there may be an opportunity to ride share.


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## DK Lieu (Apr 6, 2011)

Fortunately a lot of the drama that marred USAA Collegiate vs. USCA over the past few years have disappeared. Each organization seems to be settling into its niche, with USAA Collegiate focusing on fixed distance target, and USCA aligning themselves with NFAA and settling on 3D competition. So it really depends on the competition format you want to pursue. As far as participation numbers go, USAA Collegiate is probably 2X larger than USCA. USAA Collegiate is also heavy in Olympic Recurve and unlimited compound. USCA has a lot of bowhunters. You may also want to check out the names and locations of the schools that compete under USAA Collegiate and those who compete under USCA. It seems certain school profiles are attracted to one or the other of the two organizations.

As far as getting your club started is concerned, I can help you with a lot of that. I have the proposals, safety studies, bylaws, practice and field protocols that we used when the UC Berkeley club was starting. You are welcome to all of that material. I would also be happy to give you any sort of advice you may need. I've helped a number of collegiate clubs get started.


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## coach1 (Apr 14, 2003)

Ryan,

Much of the information you will see on Archery talk regarding College Archery is incomplete or inaccurate. The preceding post is a case in point. You are correct there are two collegiate archery governing associations in the United States. USA Archery and US Collegiate Archery. On paper both programs are functionally identical. 

Both offer Recurve, Compound, Bow Hunter and Basic Bow (Bare bow) divisions. On Paper both offer 3D, Indoor and Outdoor Target competition. Both organizations offer All-American and All-Academic honors. At last count USA Archery has 72 current programs, USCA has 93 current programs. USA Archery has approx. 450 Active individual competitors USCA has approx. 350. USA Archery has 3 Varsity programs USCA has 24. (Varsity programs are fully funded and operated by the respective athletic departments.)

USA Archery is a larger program and by charter their primary emphasis is Olympic, International and High Performance programs. Collegiate and JOAD programs are quality and well run. USCA on the other hand is dedicated to the collegiate athlete and offers some unique support programs. 

With USCA's Partnership with the NFAA the format of the indoor competition has changed to include head to head final competition at the World Archery Festival / Vegas Shoot. The 2017 US Intercollegiate Indoor Archery Championships registration fee included Regional Competition for the top eight in each category it also included Vegas Shoot Flight Registration and USIIC finals competition. At Vegas this year the Recurve Men Gold Medal match and the Women's Compound Gold Medal match was run Center Stage in the Main Arena immediately before the indoor World Cup Finals.

In making your decision where to join you can join either or both.

In either case I encourage you to contact both Organizations directly to get current and accurate information.

USA Archery website http://usarchery.org search college archery program
United States Collegiate Archery Association http://www.uscollegiatearchery.org


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

college archery club ? sounds like a great ideal and I wish there was more archery clubs at colleges competing,America needs to support collegiate archery more.the only rule that needs to be made in the USA> is all funds received from college,donations or the government must only be used by American citizens in the collegiate archery program.wish you luck getting your archery club established,Pete53


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## RyanH_C (Feb 11, 2017)

Figured I would post our current status in case anyone decided to follow along. 

We talked to a nearby gun/archery range that's run by the Izaak Walton League and the director of target archery said that he'll basically be our sponsor in terms of area of practice and coach!! 

We now have a nice large facility to practice both indoor/outdoor/field/3D and etc.  oh and to hold shoots at!

It seems like everything is working out so far, they even have some rental bows if beginners want to try archery out before investinf into it! 

It seems like USA Archery seems to be a bit more flexible and the director that is sponsoring us is a Level 3 coach? 

Thank You for the tips everyone! I'll try to keep this semi-updated  


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## NickLA (6 mo ago)

RyanH_C said:


> Ryan,
> 
> Much of the information you will see on Archery talk regarding College Archery is incomplete or inaccurate. The preceding post is a case in point. You are correct there are two collegiate archery governing associations in the United States. USA Archery and US Collegiate Archery. On paper both programs are functionally identical.
> 
> ...


Thanks for such a detailed answer!


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## DK Lieu (Apr 6, 2011)

NickLA said:


> Thanks for such a detailed answer!


Please be aware that USCA no longer exists.


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## kevinsstelly (3 mo ago)

In my student years, I constantly participated in such competitions! And now I'm busy working in plastic surgery here and and I only have time to watch others compete and win!


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