2024 Season Activities
The 2024 OAS season kicks off today with a range of activities to suit every school’s needs, be it a P.E. program, enthusiast club, or competitive team. Read on for details and check out the OAS calendar for dates!
No Travel? No problem!
Fun Shoots
Fun shoots are a great way to get a practice in whilst also getting into the spirit of the time of year. Run a fun shoot during a practice that
Themed Cutouts
For an interesting target, try a themed cutout like pumpkins or skeleton bits for Halloween, Christmas trees or ornaments, or Easter eggs; assign certain number of points to each. Set a maximum number of arrows for each archer to shoot per end, and reward the highest point-recipient with a treat like candy, spider rings, or Easter eggs with a surprise inside!
For an added twist, place a small cutout worth 12 points (or whatever you come up with) on a traditional target face in, say, the 7-ring to see who wins the ultimate prize!
Real/3D Targets
Mix it up by using an actual pumpkin (of any size) fora target; use confetti filled eggs to spruce up an easter shoot; or try water balloons with a festive design to make things interesting. Another really exciting target for new archers is a minty Lifesaver candy pinned to the bale with a golf tee; they explode! Just make sure to cleanup thoroughly afterward.
FOR SCORE
Pin Shoots
Pin Shoots are great ways to challenge archers to beat their personal bests whilst also getting to practice double scoring, competitive timing, and range etiquette. The best part? No travel required! Conduct pin shoots within your school using the rules and instructions found in Chapter 14 of the OAS Program Handbook. Order pins on The Quiver HERE to reward accomplishments!
Virtual Games are interscholastic competitive games conducted between schools from anywhere in the country. That’s right, no travel required! Submit your division and contact information, and, once matched up, compete in your game. Submit results and view online! Click HERE for more details!
The OAS Mail-In Tournament (Chapter 15 of the Handbook) has always been a great way to host a Try Archery event and garner interest from students for a new season, offer seasoned archers the opportunity to rank nationally, and even a way to round out a season. Simply run your 36-arrow shoot, record the results in our spreadsheet, and e-mail it in. You can run the shoot on multiple days to solve for having more archers than equipment as long as each participating archer only shoots the tournament once and submits one score. The Fall Tournament usually runs from September 1st — December 1st of each year and the Spring Tournament from February 1st — May 1st.
Interscholastic Games? Travel or Remote!
Traditionally, one school would host the game, the “Home” school, and the “Visitor” school would travel to compete.
The best part? These games are remote friendly if your school has trouble with travel. Simply connect with other coaches in your Conference to schedule games, conduct them on the same day from your home campus, and submit the Team Roster and Game Report to each other via email. Check out the rules and format in Chapter 12 of the OAS Program Handbook.
Ramp up the excitement by keeping track of wins/losses within the Conference! The Conference Championship can even serve to determine the regional champion if desired.
Next Level? Championship.
A Conference Championship is a collaborative effort amongst all participating coaches to create a competitive environment for the archers to grow as athletes on the field. This is also a great way to prepare the students for a State Championship.
Some of the roles coaches can fill to support a Conference Championship include host, tournament director, director of shooting (DOS), judge, field crew, or scoring team. Contact the OAS National Office for more information.
The State Championship is a one-day event where all of the local OAS Conferences come together to compete. All archers shoot a 36-arrow Ranking Round. Then, the excitement kicks up as Varsity archers move on to Olympic and Team Round eliminations. Check out Chapter 10 of the Program Handbook for format details!
The National Championship is a one-day event wherein all OAS Conferences compete in a 36-arrow ranking round to determine the top archers in each category. Check out Chapter 11 of the Program Handbook for details!