“Archery is such a great sport in helping students learn to focus and concentrate. Their focus on shooting at targets for an hour is unbelievable.”

-- Boyd-Buchanan Archery Coach Kevin Lee

Thanks to the persistence of a middle school student and the guidance and help of a teacher, Kevin Lee, archery is a club sport at Boyd-Buchanan School.

Now in its second season, the archery program has grown from 22 to a little more than 50 students.

Governed by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), Tennessee has had six state tournaments for elementary, middle and high school teams.

“With the help of a grant from the Cherokee Chapter of the National Turkey Federation we were able to start the archery program at Boyd Buchanan in 2011,” said archery coach Lee who is also an instructor in the school’s Bridge Program and a former head wrestling coach.

“This is all about getting kids involved in outdoor sports and activities, including archery,” coach Lee stated. “Archery is such a great sport in helping students learn to focus and concentrate. Their focus on shooting at targets for an hour is unbelievable.”

Instructors Course – Fri. Sept. 28: Boyd-Buchanan will host a Basic Archery Instructors Course this Friday in the main gym from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We have 25 adults from five area schools who have signed up for this course which will be led by Matt Cleary of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency,” coach Lee stated.

Adults from Red Bank and Silverdale High Schools, Calvin Donaldson Elementary, Boyd Buchanan and The Montessori School have signed up.

Anyone interested in attending the free clinic to become an instructor can contact Kevin Lee at klee@bbschool.org.

The clinic will involve classroom instruction and hands-on participation.

“Once people have passed all the necessary requirements in the clinic, then they are ready to coach and instruct archery and help grow the sport in our area,” Lee stated.

“We will also have a Boyd-Buchanan School shoot after the clinic at 4 p.m. in the gym so the kids' parents can see what they have been learning,” he said.

300 Maximum Points: An archery shoot usually consists of each shooter having 15 arrows at 10 meters and 15 arrows at 15 meters with a maximum score of 300 (maximum score of 10 per arrow x 15 arrows at each distance).

American Wilderness Leadership Seminar: The Chattanooga chapter of the Safari Club sent coach Lee to Wyoming this summer for an 8-day instructional clinic on outdoor sports, including archery.

”I learned so much about outdoor sports and had a wonderful time in Wyoming,” said Lee. “I am so glad that the Safari Club sent me there.”

Tennessee State Archery Championship:

“It is quite impressive to watch 200 kids lined up shooting at a target 10-15 meters away, vying for a state title. It is deafly quiet and the focus of those kids is unbelievable,” said Lee.

“With 1,000 kids participating in one day, the state shoot in Tennessee is run as smooth as any big event I have ever seen.” 

Boyd-Buchanan vs. The Montessori School: The two schools will compete on. Oct 15 at Boyd-Buchanan at 3:30 p.m.

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net