This was the first year for St. Martin's Catholic School to send a qualifying team to the National Archery in Schools Program national tournament. It also was the first year the school hosted its own tournament.
In only its second year, the St. Martin's archery program has about one-fourth of the school body as participants.
"In the last couple of years, it's went crazy," said Ron Hentges, volunteer coach and certified with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Statistics say archery is growing faster than soccer right now, he said.
Other Mid-Missouri schools with competitive archery teams this year were Belle, Chamois, Helias Catholic, Immaculate Conception, Immanuel Lutheran-Honey Creek, St. Joseph Cathedral, St. Joseph - Westphalia, St. Peter Interparish, St. Stanislaus and St. Thomas.
As an alternate sport, youth who may not excel in traditional athletics, find archery to be fun and challenging.
Archery requires good eye-hand coordination, attention to repetition, mental strength and the ability to stay focused.
St. Martins took 25 students to the recent national tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. They also had one student qualify as an individual.
Since December, the team had attended several local tournaments to earn a qualifying score, Hentges said.
And now, they are focused on the world tournament in July in Nashville, Tennessee, which they qualified for at nationals.
"The kids are extremely excited," Hentges said. "It's something new - the kids haven't competed at that level before."
Next year, Hentges said he hopes to qualify an elementary team and a middle school team.
"You can see a huge difference in skills from the first to second year," Hentges said. "I'm curious to see what next year brings."
On the web: www.NASPtournaments.org