Williamsburg, KY – Georgia S3DA continues to experience tremendous growth with a large increase in both student and club memberships. The 2019 growth was clearly evident on March 2, 2019, when archers, coaches and family members filled the bleachers of the Social Circle High School gym in Georgia. Georgia S3DA hosted their 2nd State Indoor Championship with 152 archers from 11 different clubs and teams participating. “There was a 62% increase in S3DA archer participation from 2018 to 2019,” stated GA State Coordinator, Jake Martin.
John Chandler’s S3DA club, Ace Apaches served as the host club and utilized the Social Circle High School gym as the venue. Georgia State Coordinator, Jake Martin, stated “their gymnasium has the absolute best lighting of any indoor shoot we have participated in this year. We maxed out the capacity of this facility and the search for a 2020 venue will begin now.” The Ace Apaches have hosted several other GBAA, 4H and GAA archery events, so they are no stranger to how to successfully run an archery event.
For the 2019 season, Georgia S3DA conducted a full indoor season with four regional qualifiers and a state championship. The four separate regional events were held in the four corners of the state and seen just over 250 kids compete at that level. These participation numbers are incredible, considering most archery clubs in Georgia have already started 3D season. Indoor slowly is gaining popularity and Georgia now has 18 students registered to participate in the Indoor National Championship being held in Cincinnati, OH.
Georgia S3DA is currently planning for their 2019 Outdoor Target and 3D State Championship being held on May 4th and June 15th, 2019. The Georgia S3DA Outdoor Target Championship will be held at Wildwood Park in Appling, Georgia, which is the same location as the ASA Pro-am. The Georgia S3DA 3-D State Championship will be held a little farther north this year in Carnesville, Georgia.
Started in December 2012 by the Scholastic Archery Association, S3DA has grown exponentially as a next-step program to follow introductory programs offered as part of 4-H or the National Archery in Schools Program. S3DA addresses the need for a program to bridge beginning target archery experience and more advanced activities such as 3-D shooting and bowhunting. The program currently operates across the United States with hundreds of certified coaches serving
thousands of young archers, grades 3–12.