Williamsburg, KY – The Owensboro Convention Center was the stage for the 8th annual S3DA Eastern Indoor National Championship on March 2nd-5th, 2023. Nearly 1,000 youth archers from 118 teams across the nation descended on the convention center all vying for their shot at being named the national champion in their respective division and class. The competition was fiercely contested, with 125 archers shooting one clean round (150) and 65 archers shooting a clean (300). This culminated in no less than eight shoot-offs to determine placement.

Holly Helton, S3DA Executive Director stated, “The logistics of hosting an indoor event of this magnitude is incredibly intense with months of planning by an impeccably dedicated staff of employees and volunteers. The many hours of sustained collaboration and attention to detail did not go unnoticed. The end result was a great competition by scores of skilled athletes as well as the time-honored, and well-loved, tradition of visiting with their archery families. We are excited to begin work on our next eastern event which will be the S3DA 3D National Championship, to be held in Rend Lake, Illinois in June and we guarantee, it will be an event you will not want to miss.”

We spoke with S3DA archer Addison Russell from Blackhawk S3DA club in Indiana and she had this to say, “Last year, at the Indoor National Championship, I shot my first ever 150-round. I was so excited that I wanted to tell everyone about it and there were definitely a few tears shed. Archery through S3DA has really helped my concentration and focus. It brings me joy because I get to attend practice and events with my family right by my side. I would recommend this program to anyone because it is so much fun, and it can bring your family closer to one another. The number one thing that I like the most about archery is competing in tournaments and seeing how well I rank against the competition. Although I didn’t shoot a 150 at the 2023 Eastern Indoor National Championship, I still managed to podium and came in second place in the Youth Female Fixed Pins Division. My process is the same for every tournament, which is to practice and practice and practice some more! I will continue to do that and look forward to the next event.”

Sherwood Forest Archery S3DA member, Madison Grubb stated, “I am a senior in the S3DA program and I came to Owensboro, Kentucky with one goal – to shoot a clean 300. This is my second S3DA Indoor National event and I am elated that we made the 8-hour trip. After shooting a clean round on Friday, I decided pure determination and focus would come back in my place on Saturday to knock it out of the park. I finished with a 300 and 43 X’s. To place in the top ten of a very competitive female open class is a dream come true. Words really can’t describe the overwhelming emotions in that moment of knowing you just shot a perfect score.”

Several collegiate archery program coaches attended the event to recruit and speak with archers. Young Adults who podiumed were presented with thousands of dollars in scholarship opportunities from various colleges and universities. Vendors attending the event and marketing to the large crowd of archers and spectators were Lancaster Archery Supply and Gas Bowstrings (both S3DA National Sponsors), as well as B3 Archery and AEP (Arrow Engineering Products).

Owensboro Convention Center, which is a top-tier convention center, and a must-see business hub will be home to the 2024 S3DA Indoor National Championship. For more information regarding upcoming events, please be sure to visit https://www.s3da.net/.

About Scholastic 3-D Archery

Scholastic 3-D Archery (S3DA) is a unique, family-oriented youth archery program which has grown exponentially across the United States as a next-step initiative to follow introductory archery programs. The mission of the Scholastic

3-D Archery program is to foster, educate and guide youth in the areas of 3D, indoor target, and outdoor target archery as well as safe, ethical bowhunting practices. The goal of the S3DA program is to provide archery and bowhunting opportunities to youth in after-school settings, as well as with archery-affiliated clubs and businesses in the community. S3DA youth participate in 3-D and target archery using compound and traditional archery equipment. Youth members can participate at regional, state and national archery events and earn college scholarships from colleges and universities across the United States. 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 youth archers.

Contact the Scholastic 3-D Archery National Office at:

www.s3da.org or 410 Sycamore Street, Williamsburg, KY 40769, Ph: 606.524.3685

Media contact Kayla Bolton at kayla@s3da.org, Ph: 423.494.2204