A primer for new USA Archery JOADs that want to compete and club, coaches and families that want to support a JOAD’s effort.

USA Archery is sanction by the USOC and FITA (The Federation that sanctions International Target Archery) to conduct Olympic and International/World Championship style target archery in the USA. The information is based on 2007 USA Archery JOAD information.

• Membership: When a youth archer and their family decide to take part, they should join the USAA (USA Archery aka National Archery Association). Membership and other information is available on www.usarchery.org. A tip is to join with a family membership to include family involvement. Parents and family members often volunteer. Some become certified instructors and judges. It is best to take care of all the paperwork as soon as possible as some eligibility is time sensitive (I.e. judges must be USAA members for at least a year)

• JOAD program information: Specific JOAD program information can be found on the USA Archery JOAD website; www.usaarcheryjoad.org. The JOAD handbook is available online on the website. The handbook describes four “competitive” JOAD age categories “Bowman, Cub, Cadet and Junior”. There are also recurve (aka Olympic) and compound bow and girl and boy divisions.

• Practice, Training, Coaching and Equipment: Practice and train, ideally under the supervision of a certified instructor or coach. Equipment preparation is as important as physical training. JOAD clubs are the primary source of JOAD involvement.
• Tournaments: JOADs should take part in USAA Tournaments at a local, state and national level to become familiar with tournament process and competition. Seek out and take part in Olympic rounds and team rounds type events whenever possible.

• JOAD achievement programs and goals:

1. The JOAD Stars achievement pins program consists of a series bow type specific indoor and outdoor score JOAD club achievement levels. Information and score chart can be found on in the JOAD handbook.

2. JOAD Olympian program is the natural progression after the Stars Pins. JOAD Olympians (Bronze, Silver and Gold) are recognized nationally and receive achievement awards directly from USAA. Information and score chart can be found on in the JOAD handbook.

3. National Championships: Bowman, Cub, Cadet and Junior have multiple “National Championships” in which to compete:

• JOAD National Indoor Championship: This is a 600 round, 60 arrow competition shot at 18 meters. Bowman and Cub JOAD score in a JOAD style that is distinctly different than Cadet and Junior scoring. This tourney usually takes place in conjunction with the USAA National Indoor Championship which allows a JOAD and JOAD family to make one trip and compete in two separate National Championships. The tournament takes place in multiple dates and locations across the country.

• USAA National Indoor Championship: This is a 1200 round, 120 arrows at 18 meters. Bowman, Cub, Cadet and Junior all shoot and score with the same USAA style scoring. See also JOAD National Indoor Championship.

• JOAD National Outdoor Championship selects the JOAD National Champion. The competition typically includes a FITA (144 arrows at 4 distance) an Olympic Round (12 arrow match elimination rounds) and team rounds. The location of the tournament rotates from around the four regions of the USA every year (South, East, North, West, South,…)

• USAA National Target Championship; The competition typically includes a double FITA (2x144=288 arrows at 4 distance). JOAD that shoots the adult (aka senior) distances maybe eligible to compete in the US Open Olympic Rounds. The JOAD have time to be spectators at the National Target Championship senior competition. The National Target Championship is sometimes used as the qualifying round for US Jr World Team Trials.

• USAA National Field Championship; There is great potential for field archers of all ages. JOAD category offerings varies but one can always shoot up to a higher division. Field Archery includes world team opportunities as well.

4. Junior US Archery Team: Jr USAT requires that the JOAD and club/coach or family travel nationally and take part in a series of ranking tournaments. Typical Jr USAT ranking tournaments include: USAA National Indoor Championship, JOAD National Outdoor Championship, USAA National Target Championship, USA Jr, World Team Trials, and other designated tournaments for ranking. Specific program information and requirements are published on a yearly basis on www.usarchery.org with the overall “USAT” information. Minimum qualifying scores are required for the program. Jr USAT team members receive many manufacturer and other benefits.

• USA Jr World Team Trials: The USA selects an indoor or outdoor Jr World Team yearly. (Note that scheduling is subject to change). As of 2007 at the Jr Outdoor World Championships, Cadet and Juniors take part, while for the Jr Indoor World Championships only Juniors take part. National Championship top ten to twenty finishers who continue training should consider themselves as contenders to make the team. There are many factors to making the team besides shooting well. (Passport, funding, time, desire, family support) The team is usually selected via a team trials tournament process that includes a qualifying round and round robins matches.

• Olympics: Recurve (Olympic bow) archers including JOAD age archers are invited to take part in the trials process every four years for to compete for the up to three male and three female USA Olympic teams. Note that as of 2007, discussions are taking place to develop a youth Olympic games concept.

• Do it again: USA JOAD archer have only a few years of eligibility. As a result, one cannot afford to “wait until next year”. It’s best to jump in as soon as you can to gain experience for the next year.

• More: Family members are encouraged to get involved and pitch in. Helping to “set up and take down”, lending a hand with lunch and snack sales, assisting a JOAD club and host a tourney are great ways to support JOAD. The ultimate volunteer is the JOAD club leader.

• After JOAD: JOADs are encouraged to continue with target archery after high school by taking part in the USA College Archery Program (USA CAP) www.uscollegiatearchery.org.

JOAD at a Glance

Junior Olympic Archery

JOAD is open to any youth archer aged 8 to 18. Both recurve and compund bows are used in club activities and in tournaments. JOAD archers who use a compound bow can train to compete in local and regional tournaments, and can earn a seat on a youth world team to compete in other countries representing the United States on behalf of USA Archery.

Recurve archers can compete likewise, with the added benefit of being able to use their recurve bow to try out for a spot on the US Olympic Archery team which is selected and managed by USA Archery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is JOAD?

A: Junior Olympic Archery Development or JOAD is administered by USA Archery, the national governing body for the sport of archery. USA Archery is sanctioned by the US Olympic Committee to oversee US Olympic Archery. USA Archery is a member of the word-wide archery organization FITA (Federation Internationale de Tir a l'Arc).

JOAD activities range from beginner instruction and outreach to world championship competition. JOAD missions range from character development to international championship competition.

Q: Where can I find classes, camps or programs that teach youth archery or JOAD?

A: JOAD Clubs link is a listing many clubs throughout the United States

Q: What happens at a JOAD program?

A: Depending upon the club, youths are taught the basic safe steps to use a bow and arrow for target archery by trained and certified instructors. Many clubs are managed by an advanced coach who can take the archers beyond the basic skills and help them become top tournament performers.

Q: Where and when are the sessions?

A: Many programs are offered once a week at a club, recreation agency or archery pro-shop. Contact the "Club" for the schedule. Some clubs are located at a local coach's training academy. Many of them are conducted after school, evenings or during weekends.

Q: How much does it cost?

A: Most formal programs charge by the session. Contact the "Club" for the cost. The cost typically includes instruction, range fee and equipment use fee for beginners. Advanced JOAD archers often own their own equipment.

Q: What should I expect?

A: Eight sessions is enough time for the instructors to determine if a youth has potential as an archer. Some will take the experience and move on. Others will want to take the next step further in archery development.

Q: What is the next step?

A: Equipment, Coaching and training.

Step 1. Purchasing equipment so that the archer can practice through out the week is typical.

Purchase equipment that fits right now. It is the only way to develop proper form now. Without proper form now, there will be no later.

Step 2. Coaching is available from the club instructors or from higher level USA Archery Level 3 and 4 certified coaches. Check out the Instructors and Coaches page for more information A typical coaching schedule ranges from weekly to monthly. Costs vary.

Step 3. Training: Practice needs to be fun and that often means social. Intermediate and Advanced JOAD club session provide the fun and social element. Practice can also take place at an indoor at outdoor archery range or at home.

Q: Where can I find out more information?

A: Contact your nearest JOAD State Representative for more information about starting a JOAD club. Check out our club listings for clubs in your area. ALso, you can register to attend a USA Archery instructror certification trainnig course to become a certified instructor. During the course, you can get information from the course instructor on how to start a JOAD club of your own.

Disciplines, Divisions and Categories

DISCIPLINES
The JOAD program conducts tournament rounds in the disciplines of Indoor Target Archery (JOAD Indoor Round) and Outdoor Target Archery (JOAD Outdoor Round).

DIVISIONS
Competition includes separate divisions for girls and boys, as well as for Olympic, Novice and Compound bows. Equipment regulations for Olympic and Compound divisions are the same as for USA Archery and FITA. A Novice Bow is defined as; any recurve, longbow or compound with no sight, stabilizer, peep or kisser button, and shot only with fingers (glove, tab or bare fingers).

Equipment regulations are listed in the FITA CONSTITUTION AND RULES book, which is found on the FITA website at: www.archery.org. It is recommended that coaches and athletes be aware of these regulations and check the web site regularly for changes.

CATEGORIES (These categories are the same for JOAD and USA ARCHERY)

NOTE: All outdoor classes shoot the two longer distances at the 122 cm target face (outer 10 ring) and the two shorter distances at the 80 cm target face (outer 10 ring). Please note that Bowman shooters shoot 25 meters twice (once at each size target). All archers shoot 36 arrows at each distance.